Grey-'Bot
by Killini721
Summary: After the war on Cybertron, Ariona continues to remain on Team Prime and travels to Earth searching for Energon. :Ariona doesn't suspect the fate she is to face in the future...What will happen?:
1. Chapter 1

"You had _another_ parking ticket?" Arcee asked over the radio. "Nope, I got the 'boot'," Cliffjumper replied. "A metal clamp that's impossible to remove?" Arcee asked, a slight smirk in her voice. "Bingo!"

"You shouldn't be getting into trouble a lot, Cliff. What if one day your tires get _removed_? And you now that we're all suppose to keep a low profile. that's rule number one" I said in laughter. "What can I do, Ariona? There hasn't been any Decepticon activity on Earth for three years. I can't help that it's dull when your only searching for Energon," Cliffjumper says back.

"Boring? Having _me_around is boring? Fine, I see how it is," I pretend to get offended, crossing my arms and making a pouty face. Cliffjumper lets out a laugh and a smile creeps up on my face again.

"You don't make any search boring. You should come along with me anytime I go out for a drive so I don't get tickets," Cliffjumper chuckles. "Your naps give you tickets. If the fuzz sees me "driving" you while you're illegaly parked, then I'll be hauled to the human's station and get into even more trouble. You're on your own on this one," I smiled.

"What I'd expect out of my partner, Grey-'Bot," Cliffjumper chuckles more. I smile even more and look out the window. Just another day on the job with Cliffjumper in the quiet Jasper, Nevada. I knew that Cliffjumper always wanted excitment, and this town isn't a heaven for that. I couldn't blame him.

"I'm getting a signal for Energon," I look over at Cliffjumper's map once he said that, a questionable look on my face. "Do you need backup?" Arcee asked.

"Do I _ever_need backup?" Cliffjumper asked. "Don't be a showoff," I huffed playfully. Cliffjumper laughs and he speeds off the road towards the Energon. I looked around the landscape from inside Cliffjumper and felt a strange feeling. "We just hit the Energon jackpot," Cliffjumper comes to a stop.

I jump out of Cliffjumper and transform into my robot mode. Cliffjumper does the same. An object starts to shadow over the sun's rays. "We got Decepticons. Good job on jynxing," I turned to Cliffjumper. "Hey, at least we have something to do," Cliffjumper smirks. "Something to do? That's a warship, Cliff!" "We can handle it,"

A turrent from the warship shoots at us, causing both of us to fly into the pit of Energon. I spit out the dirt, "You were saying?"

Dropping from the warship, was a group of Vehicons. A lot of them. "Arcee, about that back up. We're going to be needing it," Cliffjumper talks into his comlink. I pulled him to hide behind a large Energon. "Cliff, I know you're _happy_ so see Decepticons and I know you _really_need to beat some up, but we need to wait until the others arrive. There's no way the two of us can handle all of them," I say.

"Did you forget who I was?" Cliffjumper smirked, "I'll just pound some dents into some,"

Cliffjumper gets ready to jump. "No wait!" I shout. He then sends himself up high into the air and comes down on the Vehicons with a fist. I sighed, "What am I going to do with him...?"

I kick the ground, pushing myself up towards the Vehicons. I draw the blades from my forearms and start to slice Vehicons. I quickly turn to Cliffjumper, who was surrounded by 'Cons and being kicked around. One then kicks him, causing him to lose a horn and sending him flying back to the pit.

"Cliff!" I was blasted on the side and yelped, tumbling over. I look back up and noticed a Vehicon standing over me, while the rest went after Cliffjumper. "H-yah!" I raise both of my legs and shoot them forward, kicking the Vehicon in the helm and causing myself to stand upright. I stab the Vehicon on the side by kicking again.

I ran over towards the pit to go help Cliffjumper. But, that all didn't turn out well when the amount of lasers cause the Energon to explode. The force of the explosion knocks me back a few feet and caused me to lose my balance, falling backwards on top of a sharp boulder, the impact sending a shock throughout my body. I clenched my teeth in pain and moaned as I slowly sat up. Hearing sizzles coming from my back wasn't a good sign.

I check my processor again and remembered Cliffjumper, the closest to the Energon explosion. I try to ignore the pain as I sprang up to go give him help. I stopped once I feel my upper half of the body lean side to side. I yelped again and fell down to my knees and kept myself held up by my hands. I look up and watch the warship take off. No, no!

I whimpered as I crawled to the pit again, looking over what's left of the Energon. There was no sign of Cliffjumper, which means that he was captured. What's worse, he could be dead by now. I fall to the ground completly, feeling defeated and at fault. I let in a cracked breath as I felt my optics start to liquify.

I then heard the sound of a space bridge opening and five stomps on the ground. "Ariona!" Arcee runs over to me, "What happened,"

"They-*bzzt*...They..." I couldn't form a sentance. "Let me see her," Ratchet picks me up carefully, examining my back and flips me over to face everyone else.

"This is bad..." Ratchet said, feeling the cracked part of my stomach.

"Ariona, please tell us what has happened," Optimus said. "We-*bzzt*...we were ambushed. Energon exploded-*bzzt*... They took...*bzzt*Cliffjumper..." I groaned from the pain.

"Ratchet, can you track him?" Optimus asked. Ratchet lowers me to the ground softly and looks at the scanner on his arm. "Cliffjumper's life signal just went offline..."

"I'm*bzzt*sorry..." I say weakly. "It wasn't your fault..." Arcee said with grief in her voice. "Right now, we need to get you back to repair you," Bulkhead said.

Bumblebee beeps before walking over to carefully pick me up in his arms. I looked up at him emotionlessly before turning my sight back up at the sky. I slowly close my optics and let out a small sigh before going limp and letting conscienceness fall.

I moaned as my optics flicker. I blinked again once I noticed that I was on a berth. I sat up quickly and winced once a shock of pain ran through me. "Easy," Ratchet says, "You're safe,"

"W-Where..." I layed back down again.

"Your vocal processor seems to be working fine now. I thought you were going to be in stasis lock for a stellar cycle, glad to see you pull through," Ratchet smiled. I felt the top of my stomach, feeling the wound that was now a dent. "What happened while I was out...?" I asked.

"She's awake now!" A girl climbs up onto my berth, causing me to flinch in surprise. "Miko, don't be rude," A boy's voice was heard. "At least she's alright," A younger boy's voice was heard.

"A lot," Ratchet replied to my question, a pinch of annoyance in his voice. "Huh?" I blinked in confusion.


	2. Chapter 2

"So what do you transform into? Ooo, I bet it's a Porsche!" Miko says in excitement. "Don't bother with her. She could still be unstable," Ratchet says. "It's okay, Ratchet," I sighed as I sat up and swing my legs off the berth, "What can she do to bother me?" "_A lot_," Ratchet says again.

I made a face at him then looked down at Miko again, "I can't turn into any vehicle. But, I can turn into a human," I say. "Can I see!" Miko asked. "She might not be able to do so yet," Ratchet says. "I'll be fine," I waved Ratchet away before transforming into my human form. "Wow, that's so cool," Miko says in amazement, "You look like a human, too!" I let out a nervous laugh, "Really...?" I transform back into my robot mode. It's a good thing she doesn't know anything about how I'm able to turn into a human...

"Does this mean that you'll be able to come to school with us?" Miko asked with a smile. "_Absolutely not!_" Ratchet booms. "Ah, come on. I've always wanted to see what a human school was like, anyway," I say with an innocent smile.

"You've never said that," Bulkhead butts in. "Well, besides that point," I look around at everyone, "I think that it would be a advantage for me to know more about Earth than the Decepticons,"

Ratchet gives me a look. I let out a sigh and clasp my hands together, looking up at him, "Please...?"

"Optimus has strictly told me for you to keep on the low until your wound has healed fully," Ratchet replies. "It's not like I'll be moving around a lot while learning. From what I've heard, you sit on chairs for half a Mega-cycle each class," I pushed on.

"...Fine, but only for one deca-cycle," Ratchet says, "That's it!" I smile at him, "Thank you," I said with a sing song voice. "Whatever," Ratchet rolled his optics, "I better not expect you to try anymore serious stunts,"

"You can count on me!" I said with a salute. Ratchet raises an optic ridge at me, knowing me enough to know that I'm usually tricky. "Come on, you know that I dislike getting scolded by Optimus," I made a nervous smirk. "I wonder why's that," Miko said, crossing her arms and giving me a cheeky smirk. I blinked. "I don't really know what you mean..." I said a bit flustered.

Miko whistles as she jumps off the berth to meet with her other friends, Jack and Raf. I made a confused expression. "Just ignore it," Ratchet replied to my confusion. I only nod and carefully stood up to follow him towards the computer screen, which starts to beep. "Hm?"

"What is it?" Arcee asked with the rest of the Autobots behind her. "Cliffjumper's signal just came back online," Ratchet replied. "W-What?" I said in surprise, but felt relief. "Who's Cliffjumper?" Miko asked.

"How is that possible?" Optimus asked. "It's not. Probably a bug, this system's no surprise," Ratchet said. "There might be a chance that Cliff's alive," Arcee said. "Ratchet, prepare to bridge us near Cliffjumper's position," Optimus ordered.

"What can we do?" Miko asked. "Remain here," Optimus asked. "_uggh_," Ratchet groaned. Optimus then looks at me, seeing my eager face to go along with them. "Same for you," He ruins my excitement to see Cliffjumper well. "Understood," I said with a sad look. He follows the others into the space bridge after staring at me for a bit.

"What just happened?" Jack asked in surprise, seeing the Autobots disappear into the green light. "I transported then to the coordinates via the ground bridge," Ratchet replied. "What's a ground bridge?" Raf asked. Ratchet lets out a groan in annoyance. "Take it easy, they're just kids," I say to him. I turn to the three kids, "A ground bridge is a scale down version of space bridge tech. Sense we don't have the requirements or Energon to enable us to travel the universe, we're stuck on your planet,"

"But, I have constructed a ground bridge from here to anywhere on your planet," Ratchet adds in. "Whoa," Raf says in amazement, "Does it work for humans?"

"Naturally..." Ratchet glances at me as proof. "You mean I could just visit my parents in Tokyo whenever I want?" Miko asked. "Within moments. in fact, allow me to send you there immediately, all three of you," Ratchet smirked. "_Old 'bot_," I called Ratchet by his nickname. I usually do so when I'm playing or taunting. In this case, a mix of playing around and warning. Ratchet grumbles a bit and all three of the kids burst into laughter.

"How about I show you all around?" I asked the kids. "_Please_ do," Ratchet said. I made another look at him. "That would be nice," Jack said. "Climb on," I held out my hand to them and they all stepped on. I raised Miko to my right shoulder, Jack to my left, and Raf onto my head.

"You look ridiculous," Ratchet commented with a smirk. "Serving the guests, wise one," I smirked back and start to walk around the base, giving the kids a tour of the base.

"What's this?" Miko asked as she leans down towards a weird device Ratchet invented. "It's broken, don't touch," Ratchet walks by to look at the monitor screen. Miko slowly starts to touch something else.

"Don't touch that either," Ratchet snaps. I leaned down to whisper to Miko, "Careful, he's got optics of a hawk on the back of his helm," I joked. Miko giggled. Ratchet looks at both of us with a look, then back to the screen. "How come you guys are using human computers?" Raf asked.

"Well, it's not by choice, it was handed down from the previous inheritance of this former missile silo. I make modifications as I see fit," Ratchet answered. He starts to type when red pop ups start to cover the screens. Ratchet lets out a groan. "What I would expect from Windows," I joked.

"I think I can fix that," Raf says as he runs over to the computer and uses a cord to plug it into it with his laptop and starts to type. "_Really?_ You do know that this is _complex_ technology, don't you?" Ratchet asked.

"Now try," Raf says with a smile. Ratchet raises an optic ridge and looks back at the monitor screen, seeing the pop ups vanish with green check marks. "You shouldn't judge humans so easily, Ratchet," I waved my index finger at him.

"Ratchet, bridge us back, now!" Optimus voice sounds over the monitor. Following orders, Ratchet pulls down the lever to open a space bridge. Soon enough, four vehicles zoom inside through the bridge followed by a explosion of Energon. I blinked in surprise and Ratchet closes the bridge right after the last of the Autobots got through. They all transform into their robot forms immediately. "Cutting a bit close..." Ratchet says.

"What about Cliff?" I asked, looking up at Optimus. He could already tell from my expression that I knew something didn't turn out well for Cliffjumper. Instead of getting a response, I only received silence. That answered my certainty, as a lowered by head down to the floor with a expression full of grief.

"What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I come with you guys next time?" Miko asked numerous questions. She stopped once she noticed my glare. "Uh, Miko, let's go see what they hide in their sock drawers," Jack starts to drag Miko away. "Are you serious..?"

"Arcee, what did you see?" Optimus asked. I looked up at her intentionally. "Not Cliff, at least, not anymore. He was mutated, butchered. Like, something fron those 'Con experiments during the war," Arcee explained, her expression like as if she was nauseous. I cringed from it, already imagining what Cliffjumper looked like the way Arcee might have seen herself.

_'Are you okay?'_ Bumblebee beeps. "I'm aright, just dizzy," Arcee replied as she took a seat on the crate. "He doesn't deserve that..." I muttered, clenching my fist with a scrunched up face. "What's this?" Ratchet asked, seeing a weird purplish goo on Arcee's arm. "Don't know. Cliff was covered in it," Arcee answered.

Ratchet scrapes a sample from it, "Go take a decontamination bath, now," Ratchet orders. Bumblebee helps Arcee up to the decontamination chamber.

I sighed as I sat and watch Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Arcee accompany the kids back to their homes. I was left alone in the base with Optimus and Ratchet. It was probably a good time to talk to Optimus about things, but I felt weird doing so.

"Is there something troubling you, Ariona," I flinched and looked up to see Optimus. Speak of the devil.

"Y-Yes sir. I just wanted to talk to you about something," I looked over at Ratchet, who was looking over his shoulder at us from his work. I changed my voice to a mutter, "In private,"

Optimus nods and allows me to follow him to another room. I let out a sigh, "It's about going outside the base," I looked up at him. "There is no reason to feel unease," Optimus reassured. "Y-Yeah," I took in a deep breath.

"Optimus Prime.. _Orion Pax_... I'm asking permission to go along with the kids to their human school for one deca-cycle...as requested from Miko... Ratchet said that it was alright, but it really didn't feel right to me without your approval..." I exhaled, looking up at him again.

"You may go," Optimus places a hand on my shoulder, making me flinch, "But I do not recommend engaging attack without any help,"

"Y-Yes sir," I said, a smile appearing on my face. Optimus nods and turns to walk back into the room we came from. I was a bit shocked from what I might have seen, though. Either it was a hallucination, or Optimus had a slight smile on his face. I let out a small cheerful chuckle before following after him to check on what Ratchet was doing.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ratchet, is this really necessary?" I asked, nervous from all of the cords clipped onto my body. "It is necessary if you want your wounds to heal a lot more faster," Ratchet replied, clipping on another cord. "Come on, I'll be fine just healing alone, you've done enough for me. Besides...this makes me feel like a test subject," I start to pull away a cord.

"Hey hey hey, alright! Just let me remove them before you damage yourself even more," Ratchet snaps. I let out a nervous laugh, "R-Right," Once I was free from the cords, I sat up from the berth, "While I'm stuck here, do you need any help with anything?"

Ratchet sighed, looking around, "I'll call you when I do," I pull up the side of my mouth as a reply, then start to walk around in boredom. Then, I heard a sound of metal falling. "Ariona!" Ratchet snapped. "I-It wasn't me!" I shout back. A sound of clacking came.

"W-Wah!" I felt something jump on top of my helm and I quickly grab at it and threw it off, "What the scrap!"

"By the AllSpark, what was that!" Ratchet shouts. "I don't-ah!" I quickly grab the creature once it leaped toward me, looking into my optics with it's menacingly lavender one. I quickly bare out my blades and putting them together without letting the thing go. Forming a gun with my blades, I shoot at it, letting it go and it was sent flying away from me. It growled and scurried towards us again.

I jump back away from it as it went over towards Ratchet. He immediately grabs a metal rod and swings at it. I aimed my gun and shoot at the creature, nearly missing with every shot. While at it, I accidentally shoot down something that looked important. "I needed that!" Ratchet snaps at me. _Knew it_.

The creature growls and jumps at us. Before I could shoot, a laser hits it and it crashes onto the floor. I made a 'oopsie' sound by using my vocal processor, Oronian language.

I looked over to my left and see Optimus. He comes over to us and stomps into the creature. "And stay down. Now, what could have caused _that?_" Ratchet asked. "I have a grave suspicion, Ratchet. _Dark Energon_," Optimus replied.

"I haven't seen or heard such a thing ever sense the war," I make a worried expression, "It can't be possible for that type of substance to be found on Earth, right?"

"This is proof of it," Ratchet grabs the crushed creature and puts it inside a glass cylinder and gives it to Optimus. "If the residue Arcee found on Cliffjumper brought your broken equipment to life, it would stand to reason, that the very same substance brought Cliffjumper back from the dead," Optimus puts the cylinder away.

"Joy..." I sighed. "That could explain his signal coming back online, but, _Dark_ Energon? It's so scarce that it shouldn't be existing," Ratchet says, "But, what I'm concerned about, the same as Ariona, is how it got on Earth,"

"It was transported, by Megatron," Optimus answered. I blinked in surprise. "For what purpose?" Ratchet asked. "To conquer this planet, by raising an army of the undead," Optimus replied. "But- to raise such an army, the source that Megatron will have is..." I bit my lip. Cybertron.

I turned once I hear the rest of the Autobots coming back with the humans. Once they have let the kids step out, they transformed. I giggled slightly once Bulkhead pulls out a guitar that belonged to Miko. then, Optimus stepped forth.

"Autobots-" He looks down at the kids. "Roll out?" Arcee asked. "Remain here with Ariona, Ratchet, you come with me," Optimus said, "Arcee, we will be out of communications range for quite some time, so I'm putting you in charge,"

"Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing. Babysitting is different. Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field sense the war," Arcee said. "She's right. I can handle the humans while you guys are gone," I insisted.

"My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing is sharp as ever! Ariona, do you even know how to use the ground bridge when we need it?" Ratchet asked in annoyance. "Uh...well," I shifted in place a bit. "It is only for the moment," Optimus replied to Arcee.

"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" Arcee asked. "Arcee, much has changed during the last twenty-four hours, and we all need to adapt," Optimus said before looking to Ratchet, "Ratchet, bridge us out,"

Not longer, Optimus and Ratchet were gone, leaving us with the kids. "So, uh, what's on the activity's list?" Jack asked. Arcee rolled her optics, "I'm going on patrol,"

"But Optimus told us to stay here," Bulkhead said. "When you're in charge, you can call the shots. Bee! You're with me," Arcee says.

_'Aw man,'_ Bumblebee beeps. "Bulkhead, you're in charge," Arcee said. Then, Arcee and Bumblebee were gone. I let out a sigh. "So, uh, what's on the activity's list?" Bulkhead asked, shrugging his shoulders. A ringing sound caused me to cringe. I looked over at the kids and saw Miko with her guitar out hooked onto a speaker.

"How about band practice?" She asked with enthusiasm. "But, we're not a band," Raf said. "Why are you so anti-social? Come one Raf, what do you play?" Miko smiled.

"Um...keyboard?" Raf holds up his laptop. "Good," Miko turns to Jack, "Jack, what about you?"

"I sometimes mess around with the harmonica," Jack rubs his neck. "Do I look like I do country? just cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming," Miko waves him off. I blinked in reaction. "Bulkhead, we're going to need a big industrial sound. Ariona, you'll be singing. DIY, we have a band! We just gotta learn the songs. This one's a ballet, my fist, your face," "But, Miko, I'm a _terrible _singer," Miko starts to play the guitar, causing me to cringe more.

I flinched once I heard the computer going off and flashing green. "Whoa whoa, Miko," Bulkhead says. Miko stops playing, "C'mon, you can't handle raw power?"

"The sensor's going off, quick hide!" Bulkhead beckons the kids to hide behind him. The elevator doors open, "Prime!" I look closer to see that it was Agent Fowler. _Uh oh_.

"Agent Fowler! Uh, he's not here. No one's here! Except Ariona and I, of course" Bulkhead said, nervous. "Hey," I waved at Fowler in a fast pace, acting innocent. "Well, where did he go! Oh don't tell me, he's out pancaking a mini mall. Now, I don't know what language you bots speak on your planet, but Prime promised that he would handle the Decepticons, and blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska, is _NOT_ what the word 'handling' means on Earth! So, you tell Prime-" Fowler was interrupted by a sound of the guitar.

He looks down at Bulkhead's foot, seeing the cord that was connecting Miko's guitar and the speaker. I rolled my optics in worry. "Sense when were you bots electric?" Fowler asked. Bulkhead looks down at the kids. Jack only shrugs, knowing that the cover was blowed, "H-Hey. How're you doin'?"

"_Contact with civilians!_" Fowler slams his palm on the metal railing, "Team Prime is really going off book this time. Wait, don't tell me, you're running a _daycare center!_"

"W-we're interns!" Jack says. "Student interns," Raf adds. "Earning extra credit in-" "Robotics," Miko adds.

I let out a sigh, "It wasn't anything we couldn't avoid. Fowler shakes his head, "Alright, let's move. I'm taking all three of you into custody for protection,"

Bulkhead and I stand in front of the children. "We're protecting them," Bulkhead said. "Is that so..?" Fowler asked. "It is so," I retort. Fowler rolls his eyes and starts to walk back up the stairs, "Well maybe you could explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon," Fowler grabs the phone. "W-Wait," I held up my hands. "Don't use that phone its," Bulkhead pushes his finger against the phone booth, "out of order."

"This isn't over, big-butts! Not by a long shot!" Fowler starts claiming the stairs. "_Big-butt?_" I placed my hands on my hips, making a face at the agent. Fowler enters the elevator and leaves, leaving Bulkhead with a groan.

"What was that about?" Miko asked. "A threat, obviously," I sighed. The computer starts to beep again. "What now?" I asked. Bulkhead walks up to check it out. "It's an SOS. From Fowler!" He says. "Did you find his location?" Raf asked. "The scan was incomplete. Oh well," Bulkhead shrugs.

"_Oh well?_ Seriously!" Jack shouts. "Fowler's a jerk!" Bulkhead shouts back.

"Regardless of that, he might have been engaged on Decepticons. He is a human, and therefore, he needs help, Bulkhead," I said. "And he knows your location. _Our_ location," Raf said in worry. "Also, those 'Cons can torture him to spill it out!" Miko said.

"But we lost the transmission. Fowler could be anywhere!" Bulkhead said. "Maybe I can help," Raf pulls out his laptop and opens it, "Five years ago, the Government started to put microchips into their agents. You know, something like owners do with pets,"

"T-That's interesting," I shivered, picturing someone getting drilled into their head and had a chip placed inside before sealing it up and stitched.

"What? I saw it on t.v!" Raf said, noticing everyone's look and I shivered again.

"A-Anyway, If I can hack into the mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint where Fowler's at," Raf types. "You know how to hack?" Miko asked. "Experienced it myself," I smiled. "But, he's like, two years old!" Miko said.

"Twelve, and a quarter," Raf reassures. He continues to type, "There, got it. Latitude thirty-nine point five. Longitude one hundred sixteen point nine,"

"There's no doubt about it, Decepticons are the culprits," I say and look up at Bulkhead, who was opening a bridge to the coordinates. "Okay, wait here," Bulkhead said. "B-But Bulkhead, I don't know the details of working this," I point to the opening to the ground bridge.

"All you have to do is put in the location and pull the lever, easy as that. I'm counting on you on being in charge," Bulkhead winks before running into the bridge. I sighed, "Right..."

"I guess it's just the four of us, right Miko?" Jack blinks and looks around, "Miko?" I gasped and looked everywhere, then realized.

"Scrap!" I kicked a crate, "I'm in deep..." "What should we do? Bulkhead might not have realized that she followed him," Raf said in worry. "Miko hasn't seen what the 'Cons do like we have. We have to go after her," Jack said.

"Oh no. No way! I'm not getting into anymore trouble as I am in now!" I shout. "We have to! Miko's our friend, we can't just abandon her!" Jack says back. "Please Ariona? The location is still locked on," Raf said.

I thought for a moment. I did want to get out on the battlefield again, but in doing so would disobey Optimus' orders. But still...

I let out a sigh, "Fine, we'll go. Raf, you're in charge," I pull down the lever to open a space bridge and grabbed Jack. "In charge of who?" Raf asked. "Be lucky, no one," I replied. I blinked when Raf starts to follow. I sighed and picked him up, too. I place the two on each shoulder as the bridge starts to open. "Hang on," I tell them as I ran through the bridge.

"Ugh, I need to get used to that again.." I took in deep breathes as I exit out from the bridge. "Ariona!" Bulkhead said in shock, "What are you doing here? With them?"

"Sorry, _friendly_ worries," I replied with a nervous laugh. "Do you feel your bones vibrating?" Raf asked. "Thanks for sharing," I quickly say, looking up at the warship, "Scrap,"

"You there!" I look up at the Vehicons who were pointing cannons at us. _"Ugh..."_ I cursed in my Oronian language.


	4. Chapter 4

"Bulkhead, take them!" I shout as I continue to dodge lasers from the Vehicons. Bulkhead transforms into his alt. mode and zooms by me with Miko and opens the car door. I grab Jack and Raf and threw them inside Bulkhead before dodging again.

I watch him drive away then jumped up into the air and draw out my skates. I crash down onto the ground and start to skate in high speed towards the warship, dodging lasers as I went. I may not have a vehicle mode, but that doesn't mean I can't go fast.

I jump onto a boulder, kicked, then wind up on the cliff's wall. I bend down low and used all my strength to push myself on top of the warship. I dis guard my skates and bare out my blades, slicing up Vehicons. Even though I kept dodging, I would receive hits on the arms or legs.

Defeating my fair share on 'Cons, I meet up with Bulkhead who was on the warship as well. I blinked once I saw Miko, "H-How did she get up here?"

"Kind of went in with him," Miko smiled nervously as she points up at Bulkhead. He sighed as he picked up Miko. "Whoa!" I nearly get blasted by a laser. More Vehicons have showed up. "Quick, in here!" Bulkhead runs to a opening of the warship. He jumps inside with Miko as I quickly followed behind, closing the hatch.

All of us dropped down into a dark hallway. The only light that was available were the lights on top of the hallway. Eerie feeling.

"Let's get a move on," Bulkhead starts running. I hesitate before following him, blasting down Vehicons as we went. Bulkhead comes to a stop near a corner and holds out his hand for me to halt. I could hear footsteps coming. Bulkhead holds up a finger and shushed me as he brings out his cannon. In a blink, Arcee appears from the corner, followed behind was Bumblebee with Jack and Raf. I let out a sigh of relief. "Am I ever glad to see you guys,"

"You brought the humans, huh?" Arcee asked. "You try getting them to stay behind!" Bulkhead said. "And it was mostly my fault, I guess. Sorry," I rubbed the back of my helm. "Right now, we need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here," Arcee suggested.

"We know where he is," Jack said. "How did you know?" I raised an optic ridge. "We uh, kind of overheard the 'Cons talking," Raf said with a smile.

"Ma-an, these guys just keep on coming," I say, plunging my blade into a Vehicon's chest, twisting, then throwing him down. "Come on," Arcee runs down the hallway, leaving all of us to follow behind. We all then went inside a control room and blasted away all Vehicons that were residing inside. _"Ah...[Great, a break...]"_ I dis guard my blades.

"Wait in here," Arcee tells the three kids.

_'Why?'_ Bumblebee beeps. "They're slowing us down, plus, they're easy targets," Arcee replies. "She's right about the slowing down thing. About the target thing, well, aren't they a little bit on the short side for the 'Cons to see..?" I asked, making my hand lower to my side, imitating something small. Arcee raises an optic ridge at me, then gives out a sigh.

"They'll be alright in here, as long as they _stay_ put," Arcee arms her cannon and walks out of the room. I share a glance with Bumblebee and Bulkhead. I shrug my shoulders, bringing out my blades again and followed after Arcee with the other two Autobots. As we went on towards on destination, we annihilated Vehicons who were trying to stop us. Soon as we reached to the door of where Fowler was, my blades were covered in material.

"Bulkhead, use that 'Con to throw off whoever is watching Fowler. I'll sneak in. Ariona, you're with Bumblebee and Bulkhead," Arcee instructs. "Gotcha," I gave her a thumbs up. Bulkhead grabs the sparkless Vehicon and raises it to cover himself. Bumblebee and I hid behind Bulkhead as Arcee crawls through a space that led to the room on the other side of the door. I clapped my hands to start.

Bulkhead walks closer to the door, carrying the Vehicon in front of him while Bumblebee and I follow behind closely. The door opens automatically. Whoever was in the room, they would only see a Vehicon. A classic.

"Well!" A voice hisses in frustration at the Vehicon. I breathed out a bit, regocnizing the voice. It was the voice of the Decepticon, Starscream.

Bulkhead lets the Vehicon fall to the ground and blasts at the one near him, leaving only Starscream and Fowler, who was in chains, in the room. All three of us rush in and point our guns at Starscream. "Not so fast," Predicting what he would do, Starscream points his cannon at Fowler. I narrow my optics at him, keeping a close watch at his movements.

"I wouldn't do that..." Arcee says, currently above Starscream pointing a cannon at his head. "Oh, but I might," Starscream replies in his mischievous way. There was a long silence, everyone glancing at each other. "Now, if you don't mind, Agent Fowler and I will be taking our leave," Starscream breaks the silence.

"The Emu says: Yaaarrugh," Fowler randomly calls out. _"Huh...?[What the frag...?]"_ I raised my optic ridge. Bumblebee takes the opportunity of the distraction to shoot at Starscream, making the rest of us shoot. Starscream dodges the shoots and growls. He transforms into a jet and zooms out of the room. "Let's move!" Arcee shouts. I ran over to Fowler and break the chains, grabbing him before he fell to the floor.

The three Autobots transform into their vehicle modes and I carefully placed Fowler into Bulkhead, closed the door and pat Bulkhead, "Ready to g-go," Arcee turns herself to me, "Ariona, you're voice-" "It's fine," I smiled at the blue motorcycle.

They all rush out of the room and I ran behind, eventually saving the kids from a Vehicon. They all climb into Bulkhead. "Can we stop for pie?" Fowler asked, still in his woozy state. "You found Fowler! Rock on!" Miko makes the rock symbol. I make a face, "Let's just get out of here," With that, we all exit from the warship and rushed back to the base.

"So, what happened with you guys?" Miko asked Ratchet. Once we bridged Optimus and Ratchet, they looked a bit...beat up.

"We engaged on an army of undead Cybertronian warriors," Ratchet answered. "Whoa, my j-jinx?" I said with a nervous voice. The last thing we need is to kill things that were already did.

"You fought zombies and I missed it!" Miko said. I shivered a bit. If I could imagine Cliffjumper as one, an army of Cybertronians years ago, rusted away, giving a more eerie look.

"Bulkhead, you exercised extremely poor judgment in allowing the humans to accompany you," Optimus said. "I'm sorry Optimus, i-it wont happen again," Bulkhead said, glancing at the kids. I gulped and let out a long sigh, "It was m-mostly my fault, Optimus. Bulkhead put me i-in charge and I let one slip by, and I a-agreed on letting the other two follow me to get to the others. To add to that, I engaged on t-the enemy when I should have been letting myself repair. I a-am really sorry for my a-actions," I lowered my head a bit.

Optimus stares at me during my say, which even gave even more disappointment in myself. "It really wasn't all of Ariona's fault. And look, recon," Miko flips out her phone and shows a picture of Cybertronian plans. "...Ratchet, have a look. It could be importance to Megatron," Optimus glances at me before looking at Ratchet. _I'm in deep slag, huh...?_

"I...don't uh, understand," Ratchet gives a confused look. I blinked and looked at Miko's phone, seeing a picture of a Vehicon. _"Huh? [When was the picture changed?]"_ I bzzt'd out in confusion. "Oh, oops. That was the 'Con that tried to blow Raf away. At least, not until Bulkhead re-arranged his grill!" Miko said with a smirk.

"Miko, Raf was almost _killed_. When are you going to stop taking all of this like a game!" Jack shouts. "Uh, we were all almost killed, Jack. You, me, Raf. Even _them!_" Miko points at Optimus and Ratchet. Jack makes a 'pfft' sound, "Well, if this is your average day as an Autobot, then I don't want to be apart of it!" Jack says. _"Aah...[Come on, calm down...]"_ I hummed with a sigh.

Miko was about to say something, till Optimus does, "Jack, putting you in harm's way was never our intent. However, it is not the safety of you three that is at risk, but the safety of all human-kind," Optimus says calmly, "We will respect your decision if you wish to leave,"

I flinched at the sound of the bridge opening. "No point in long goodbyes, here's the door," Ratchet said in a hurry. _"Ratchet! [Don't be so rude, Ratchet!]"_ I hissed with a frustrated look.

"C'mon, Raf," Jack said to the twelve year old. To me, his voice sounded a bit cracked. Raf looks over to Bumblebee, who had a sad look. I tilt my head at him when he look at me for a bit, then back at Jack, "I'll be alright, Jack," Raf waves, his voice uneasy, "I'll see you at school,"

"Sure thing," Now, I could tell how Jack was unset by his voice. I gave him a frown, along with a slightly sad expression. Jack walks down the steps and starts towards the bridged opening. Not till then, Arcee stepped in his way, as she looked down at him with her arms crossed.

"I know, you don't exist," Jack sighed as he continued his way towards the bridge. "Don't make me hunt you down," Arcee said with calmness. But, her expression was filled with slight disappointment, as if she doesn't want Jack to leave the gang. I watched Jack as he disappeared into the bridge, back to his home.

I let a long drawn out sigh as I leaned against the wall and sat down. _'You're really in for it,'_ Bumblebee beeps as he walks up to me. "Yeah...I guess," I replied with a weak smile, "Haven't been punished yet though, haven't I?"

Bumblebee looks towards the floor, then back at me, _'You know, you haven't really changed a bit sense the war. Your personality's just...bent a bit,'_ I vomited breath, "You may be right. I still like to beat up some 'Cons... You're still the same, too, though not as naive. Actually, I don't know, sense you seem to love Earth cartoons," I gave a weak laugh. _'Hey!'_ Bumblebee whines.

My smile grew wider, then, my optics became drowsy. _"Oough,[yawn]"_ I let out a tired sound. 'Need sleep?' Bumblebee asked in beeps. "Yeah...see you in the morning," I sighed. A plate runs over my face, only showing my glowing blue optics. My body locks itself and my optics turn off. Now, I was in sleeping state, looking like a blank, heavy toned body of metal and steel.

_'Yeah, good night,'_ Bumblebee hummed quietly before leaving me to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

My vision comes back on, along with my senses. The sound of slight beeping woke me up. My guard removed from my face and my body unlocked itself. I felt extremely tired. I groaned as I stood up, failing a couple of times as I did. I realized that the beeping was coming from me. I looked down at my chest and noticed my gem glowing faintly, almost dieing out. I gasped from realization. I needed to refuel.

I tiredly walk into the other room where everyone was, in time to see Arcee leave. Miko turns to look at me, "Wow, is it just me, or do you look like you're about to collapse?"

"Happens every month..." I replied in a monotone voice. "I almost forgot," Ratchet rummages through crates and takes out a dark blue crystal, Energon from my home planet Oronion, "There's not much left,"

Ratchet tosses me the Energon and I catch it in a sloppy way. I held the Energon against my gem and watched as the Energon's energy transported inside the gem, making it shine bright for a brief second and it was back to normal. I sighed in relief, feeling a lot more better. "What do you do with that?" Miko asked, pointing at the clear Energon crystal. I answered her question by stuffing the crystal into my mouth, chewed, then swallowed. Miko blinked at me either in astonishment or surprised.

"So, what's the situation?" I asked, acting as if nothing had happened, though, I am worried about my Oronian Energon supply running short. "Well, I've found and pin-pointed the location of Megatron's space bridge. The problem is, it's high up from Earth's orbit," Ratchet replied.

"That's not good..right?" I asked as I shrugged my shoulders. "I know you guys don't fly, but can't you just ground bridge there?" Miko asked. "The ground bridge has _limited_ range. If we even tried to bridge out of Earth's orbit, we have a chance of being scattered across the universe," Ratchet says.

"I'm afraid we'll have to take that risk," Optimus said, "We have to reach the space bridge first before Megatron in order to stop his plan,"

Arcee's horn beeps as she drives into the base, with no one other than Jack with her. I blinked in surprise. "Hey, guess who's back," Jack said with a smile. "Autobots, prepare for departure," Optimus says aloud. I snicker at Jack's reaction. "Where to?" Arcee asked.

"To the final frontier," Miko replies. "Space? I thought that they didn't have any way to get there," Jack said. "They don't, really," Raf says. "Ground bridge will be better than nothing, right?" I smiled. Ratchet goes over to open the ground bridge using the coordinates.

"Be careful, Bee," Raf says. _'Don't worry,'_ Bumblebee beeps as he walks towards the bridge's entrance. "I'm so jealous!" Miko says while looking up at Bulkhead. "Don't even think about following me," He warns. I let out a giggle.

"Optimus, if you leave me stranded on Earth with a bunch of humans, I will never forgive you," Ratchet says. _Oh, it can't be **that** bad...wait..._

"Until we meet again old friend," Optimus replies back. He looks over my way. "I know. I'm staying behind until my wounds are recovered," I held up my hand. "I'll be counting on you to watch over things here," Optimus face guard slides over his mouth. "R-Right," I said with a nervous laugh.

"Autobots. Roll out!" Optimus commands. Optimus along with Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee transform into vehicle modes and enter the bridge.

"Well, they seemed to made it to the location in one piece," I say. So far, the Decepticons were unable to lock on the coordinates to Cybertron, making it not possible to open the space bridge. "Don't the Decepticons know where there own planet is?" Raf asked. "_Naturally_. But, Cybertron is many light-years away. To reach their destination, they're location must be astronomically precise," Ratchet replied.

"If Megatron went through the trouble of traveling to his space bridge, he must have an alternate targeting system. A remote one," Optimus voice says through the computer's speaker. "Where could he find one like that on Earth?" I asked in confusion. "I highly doubt with Earth's technology that there would be a dish powerful enough to find the location of Cybertron," Ratchet scoffs.

"What about a bunch of linked radio telescope dishes? Like the giant sized array in Texas?" Raf asked, showing all of us a photo of a large lined group of satellite dishes. I flinched once Ratchet makes 'zip' noises to hush Raf up.

"This is not child's play!" He snapped. "Good thinking, Raf. Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the security hazard," Optimus' voice orders.

"You, soldier! You're out of uniform! Put on some pants!" Fowler points at us while sitting up from his bed. Then, he falls back onto his bed, unconscious once again. "I think that would be difficult, sir," I replied to Optimus with a nervous voice.

"I can't get to the array's firewalls, they're too thick," Raf sighed. "You think that you can keep Decepticons out?" Ratchet asked the boy. "Well, if it's too difficult to break the firewalls here, why not going right to the source?" I asked. "You mean, right to where the arrays are?" Jack asked. "Yep," I nod with a smile. "Then, I can log into their system," Raf adds.

"The risk is too great, the Decepticons will there, perhaps even on sight," Optimus says. "Optimus, with all due respect, you said yourself once that this is bigger than the safety of three humans," Jack says. "Yeah! If we let the Decepticons win, it wouldn't be only us that gets fragged, but everyone else on this planet," Miko adds.

"I will also have no problem with going along with the humans if there is trouble," I say with confidence. "...Raf?" Optimus asks after a short silence.

"I want to give it a shot," Raf says. "Then, let's hurry," I say, putting in the location of the satellites and pulling the lever to open a bridge. I quickly transform into my human mode and followed the humans into the bridge. Within seconds, we were all at the location. I shook my head after coughing. I looked over at the humans, who were dizzy from the trip.

"That'll take some getting use to," Jack groaned. "C'mon," I waved at them and ran along with them to the nearest entrance. I slowly open the door and peeked inside. "See anyone?" Jack asked. "Cost is clear," I replied and opened the door wider. I stepped into the hallway and carefully make my way down. I leaned against the wall and looked around the corner, seeing no one. I beckoned the humans over and turned the corner.

Looking at the door to my right, I opened it and peered inside, "This must be it," I let the humans get through before entering myself and closing the door. Raf walks up to a computer and starts typing. "Wow, security sure lacks here," Miko smirked. "Probably because they think no one would care about breaking in here," I joked. "I'm in. And so are the Decepticons," Raf frowned.

"How can you tell it's them for sure?" I asked. "These schematics, they're the same from the time we were on the ship. But this one, I can download," Raf takes out flash drive and plugs it into the computer. "It's gotta be the space bridge," Miko says.

"They're synchronizing it to the dishes, but I can sync to them," Raf said. "Will they know?" Jack asked. "Even if the Decepticons see that I'm in the system, they wont know where I am," Raf replies. "Even so, we still have to be careful. The Decepticons have _one specific_ 'Con that could pass this job. And I don't like it one bit," I said.

"Who?" Miko asked. "Soundwave," I narrowed my eyes as I said his name, "Guy honestly gives me the creeps,"

"They're locking onto Cybertron," Jack said, causing me to look at the screen. "But not for long," Raf starts to type, then the satellites were moved away from the location of Cybertron. Then, they were locked onto Cybertron again. "Great. I'll just have to start over again," Raf continues to type. I clenched my teeth.

"What if the 'Cons realized that they're being punked?" Jack asked. "It's like virtual combat. You know, like online gaming," Raf replied. "Yeah, Jack, what are they gonna do? They're probably like, a thousand miles away," Miko smiled. My sensors start to pick up, feeling the door open behind us. I quickly turn around and became wide eyed, seeing a dark eerie tentacle. _"Ahh! [What the hell!]_ I scream out, causing the humans to jolt and look at what I was looking at.

The tentacle launches itself at us and grabs Jack, Miko and I, tossing us around. I growled as I held on and try to drag the tentacle down with my weight. Jack and Miko were thrown to the wall, and the tentacle goes after Raf. _"Ugh! [You bastard!]_ I hissed and tried harder to slow the thing down.

Causing it to miss Raf, the tentacle crashes the computer instead. Then, it swirled around, forcing me to let go. I yelled as I slam against the wall, making a dent. Miko grabs the axe from the wall and goes after the tentacle, only to get slapped. Miko flies into the wall, dropping the axe. the tentacle picks up the axe.

"You handed it an axe!" Jack yelled at Miko. "Not good," Raf said, nervous. Instead of using the axe to strike, the tentacle starts to leave the room. I growled and charged after it, my forearm skin breaking and forming into a blade. I followed it into another room. I glared at the 'Con, Soundwave, who turned around to look at me. I charged at him and jumped into the air, ready to strike. He quickly uses my arm to swat me away. "Ah-!" My voice sounds out and I immediately fix myself before hitting the floor.

Before I could strike again, Soundwave jumps up onto the roof using the opened windows above him. The humans catch up, enough time to see Soundwave about to leave. He turns to us again. Miko takes out her phone and takes a picture of Soundwave. Soundwave zooms in on us, nodding his head as if he was taking a picture, too. I growled up at him as he transforms into a jet and blasts off into the sky.

"Slagging coward," I dis arm my blade. "Why is he leaving?" Miko asked. "Simple, his work was done," I sighed in annoyance. "He used the axe to cut hard line, the dishes are locked onto Cybertron...for good," Raf said in worry. "I should have been able to stop him," I sighed again.

"What now?" Jack asked. "I'll call Ratchet to bridge us back. That's all we can do..." I replied in disappointment. I touched the right blue small antenna on my head, "Ratchet, bridge us back to base..."

"Optimus, I'm registering a rapidly expanding max in their space bridge vortex. One with a peculiar energy signature," Ratchet says. "Dark Energon. Ratchet, we must destroy the space bridge. There is enough live Energon for it to detonate," Optimus says, "But, we lack the fire power to ignite it,"

"If I knew how the space bridge was engineered, I might find a technical was of accomplishing that feat," Ratchet replied. "Would scematics help?" Raf holds up the flash drive he manages to get before Soundwave destroyed the computer Raf was using.

"Optimus, the space bridge is our only hope for ever returning to Cybertron. Are you certain that destruction in the only option?" Ratchet asked. "Cybertron is filled with nothing but undead Cybertronians. Why would you even want to return?," I say.

"She does have a point..." Jack agrees. "I'm afraid so," Optimus answers Ratchet's question.

"By then all means, let us light our darkest hour," Ratchet says. "Autobots, take your positions and follow Ratchet's lead," Optimus orders the three bots that were with him.

"Do you think everything will turn out okay?" I asked in worry. "Don't underestimate us now, Ariona," Ratchet replied, "You know us too well to be thinking that,"

I vomit breath, smiling a bit while raising an optic ridge. "These things are getting closer. That's bad, right?" Fowler asked, pointing his thumb at the map of Dark Energon readings. "Of course it is. We need to hurry, fast," I said.

"Ratchet, we're in position," Arcee's voice called out. "Arcee, pay close attention," Ratchet starts giving Arcee instructions, "Follow the line from the floor regulator to the Energon pump. There should be a valve,"

"I see it," Arcee replied. "Good, turn that power against itself. All you have to do is to reverse the current," Ratchet instructs. "The current is reversed," Arcee says.

"YES!"

I quickly looked down at Fowler and blinked at him. Everyone was silent as well. "Right?" He asked.

"I'll get the ground bridge ready," Ratchet states as he makes his way over to the lever. I sighed in relief. "Now we don't have to deal with the undead,"

"Optimus, the ground bridge is ready!" Ratchet calls out. Minutes have passed, and still nothing. I started to grow worry. "Do you think they're..." Raf starts to say. "They can't be..." I looked down a bit, narrowing my eyes in worry.

"I have four life signals. One very faint," Ratchet says. I blinked and looked back up. That faint life signal could belong to any of the bots, it made me worry about all of them more. I blinked once I see Optimus come through the bridge, having little damage on him. I frowned a bit, seeing Bulkhead's frown as he came through the bridge as well. "Bulkhead, you're okay!" Miko ran over to give him a hug.

I looked towards the bridge again, seeing Bumblebee run through while carrying Arcee in his arms. It made me feel grief, reminding me about when I got injured. "A-Arcee.. She's not..." I frown more.

"By the AllSpark, we've lost one this week, don't let it be two," Ratchet said in grief. I bit my lip, feeling even more worried as I felt nervousness inside. Jack walks up to Arcee and places his small hand onto her large one. I perked up once I see Arcee open her optics. "Arcee..." Jack said, his voice cracked, with a small smile.

"Jack, _really?_ There are other motorcycles in the world," Arcee said in a weak voice. "But, you're my first," Jack replied. I felt a lump in my throat as I swallowed. I knew that Arcee was going to be alright. Thank the ancients.

"What of Megatron?" Ratchet asks Optimus. "Not even he could have survived ground zero," Optimus replied.

"Prime," Everyone looked over at Fowler, "I didn't even get to thank you bots for the save. I owe you one. We all do,"

"Hey, Fowler," I called, making his attention turn to me, "Emu's make a drumming sound, not how you described it," I smirked a bit. Fowler looks at me in confusion as the elevator doors closed. Bumblebee places Arcee down, helping her stand upright.

Miko walks up to Optimus, twiddling her fingers, "Um, is this the part where you say goodbye and tell us that we need to forget how we ever saw you?"

I looked up at Optimus, waiting for his reply...

"So, I start school tomorrow with you three?" I asked with a smile. "Yep," Raf replied. "Don't forget to set your alarm," Miko waves her finger at me, imitating a parent. I laughed, "I wont," I played along. I watched as Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee drive away with the humans, taking them home. Once they were out of sight, I looked up into the sky. The sun was almost set behind the horizon, causing a beautiful effect of gold, purple, and blue colors. The stars were starting to peek out.

_You know, I wont mind protecting this planet just a while longer._ I smiled to myself...


	6. Chapter 6

As the female walks along the forest floor, she was worried while disgusted of the withering plants. She shakes her head, "If only there were more of us to take care of this problem. But..." The female looks up at the deserted city in front of her. "Soon, there wont be any of us left..." The female thought for a long time, taking a dead plant into her metal hand. She crushes it in frustration and lets the wind blow the dust in her hand away. She begins her way towards the city, her intention on preparing a pod to launch herself out into space. To find what was important to her and seek help...

~~~~~

"I'll be able to create one with the amount of clear Energon I have..." I whispered to myself as I clicked around on Raf's laptop, "All I need is a model..."

"What are you bickering about?" Ratchet asked, raising an optic ridge at me. "Oh, uh, nothing," I smile innocently as I closed Raf's laptop. There was a loud explosion somewhere close to us. "An attack!" Ratchet asked as I followed him to where the sound came from. Smoke cleared from the air to reveal a coughing Raf and a Bumblebee. "It's just my volcano," Raf replied. I watched as the science project turned into a pile of brown goo.

"Was," Raf adds. "Good try on making a military weapon," I giggle bit. "Ariona, don't you have your own science project? You know it's due tomorrow, right?" Raf asked.

"Oh," I let out a nervous laugh, "Yes, uh, that. I do have a project. I just..haven't finished-it...?" I grinned sheepishly. "Hold still Bulkhead! Jupiter need's his red spot," Miko says as she dabs paint on one of her planets, accidentally spilling some paint onto the floor, "Whoops,"

"What. In the AllSpark. Is _going on_ in here!" Ratchet yells out. "Like Raf said, our projects are due tomorrow," Jack replies, getting help from Arcee build a motorcycle. "Maybe it needs one of these doohickeys," Arcee holds up a piece of metal, which I had no idea what it was either.

"You're a motorcycle, Arcee. Shouldn't you know how to build a engine?" Jack asked. "You're a human, Jack. Can you build be a small intestine?" Arcee retorts, resolving me to giggle at her reply.

"Well, you can't work on these projects in here, you're- making a mess," Ratchet snaps. "But the science fair is a big part of our grade," Raf says. "Yeah, if Bulkhead doesn't help me finish my solar system-"

"_Oh? _What does Bulkhead know _anything_ about your solar system? Or Bumblebee about your volcanoes? Or-" Ratchet interrupts Miko, who was then interrupted by Jack. "Arcee about motorcycles?"

"_Precisely_, we're not earthlings," Ratchet says. "Hey, chill. It's their first time making things related to Earth, therefore, they're learning more...even though I haven't really done anything yet myself, but still," I shrug my shoulders.

"But, they're not scientists," Ratchet shakes his head. "But the Autobot's are their guardians, Ratchet. Would it hurt by learning more about Earth by helping our young friends with their schoolwork?" Optimus asked. "_Exactly_," I crossed my arms at Ratchet.

"Well, maybe they should try learning more about Cybertron," Ratchet placed his hands on his hips. I let out a sigh, "Old bot, you're hard to convince. Maybe loosen up?" I asked. Ratchet gave me a look. "Right right, sorry," I rubbed my neck, nervous.

The computer screen starts to beep, causing me to look up at it, "What's going on?" Ratchet walks up to the screen, "Exposed Energon, and it's moving,"

"And sense we're not moving it, there's a perfect guess on who is," Bulkhead says. "Decepticons," Arcee adds. "Without Megatron? Who's giving the orders, then?" Miko asked. "Unfortunately, Megatron's legacy still lives on, others rising to take his place. Autobots, you have projects to finish. Ratchet, I'll be needing your aid," Optimus says.

Ratchet looks back at the humans, "The science fair is a big part of their grade. Perhaps I should stay behind and advize," Ratchet says. "That's shocking for you to say...but the way you said 'advise', you're planning on giving bad advise on an act of being the old man, huh?" I asked. Ratchet gives me another look. "...I'm being a smart-aleck, am I? Sorry," I smile innocently.

"Very well... Bumblebee, you'll come with me," Optimus says. After Optimus and Bumblebee had left, I started grabbing the clear crystals, leftover cases from Oronian Energon, and start using my blades to cut them. "What'cha buildn', Ari?" Miko sneaks up on me, causing me to jump. "Oh, uh, this," I show her the clear half piece of a cube. "...I give, what's it suppose to be?" She asked.

"I'm making a replica of myself. Only, not a complete replica, just a smaller version," I explained. "Wow, you can do that!" Miko asked. "My race is able to do so," I replied. "...There's another reason why you're making the thing, right?" Miko crossed her arms at me.

"Uh, no...don't you have a project to work on...?" I raised an optic ridge. The sound of a blow torch caused me to snap my head up and saw Ratchet making a large volcanic shaped metal. "What the frag?" I stood up, dramatically gesturing to the metal volcano.

"Uh, what is it?" Raf asked. "Yo-o-ou'll find out," Ratchet says. "But shouldn't I be doing the work?" Raf asked, about to touch the metal volcano. Ratchet makes his "don't-touch-that" sound, "Don't touch, just watch and learn,"

"Wow, he's getting a little too into it, don't you think?" I crossed my arms and raised an optic. "Well, we're just going to go help Jack and Miko with their projects," Bulkhead says to Ratchet. "And without _my_ supervision! You want them to be right, don't you?" Ratchet asked. Bulkhead and Arcee exchanged glances.

"Then let's watch a master at work!" Ratchet grins as his blow torch activated. "Whoa, okay, then, "Mister Crazed Scientist". Just don't build anything that could blow up the whole world," I rolled my optics.

~~

"Well, Miss Ariona, what do you have?" My teacher asked. "I would like to present, Swiftcut #2," I smiled and I gestured to the grey cube on the desk. As it was called to, the cube transformed into a doll-like metal girl with glowing blue eyes. _"Hi, I'm Swiftcut #2, what's your name?"_ Swiftcut #2 asked with a cheerful childish voice.

"Very impressive, Ariona. What does it do?" My teacher asked. "She does things like retrieving the newspaper," I answer blandly, careful not to give my cover away. "Good. Now, can I ask why it's named Swiftcut #2?" My teacher asked. "Swiftcut #1 didn't really go exactly as planned," I grinned innocently. Swiftcut #2 jumped up and down in excitement. Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the other side of the building and faint cries followed after. Swiftcut #2 immediately transformed back into a cube, _"Danger, danger! Stop, drop and roll, hide under the tables!"_

"Uh..." I made a nervous look, then a sigh.

~~

"So, Ratchet got you guys low grades?" I asked. the three humans nod. "What did you get with her?" Jack points at Swiftcut #2. "At least an A or A-," I replied. _"We're the best, we're the best!"_ Swiftcut #2 cheers. "Don't be rude," I gave the mini bot a look.

"Well, if you were on my planet, you would have been rewarded the highest honors!" Ratchet stomps away, grumbling in anger. I let out a sigh, then formed a half smile.

~~

"Alright, #2, time to see if you really work," I whispered, standing in the town of Jasper while looking at a silver Porsche in the middle of the night. How Swiftcut #2 was created, she started out as a clear cube, until I transported some of my spark's energy into the cube, making it turn into silver and creating a mini bot of myself. It was a difficult task to do, and for real, it did hurt a bit.

"Scan that," I order. Swiftcut #2 skips off towards the car, then forms a blue beam in front of her and scans the car. She skips back and focuses on the data. A long while has passed, then sighed in disappointment. Then, Swiftcut #2 transforms into a Porsche, exactly like the one she scanned. "I-It worked!" I whispered in surprise.

~~

I let out a yawn as I drove into the base, getting out to allow Swiftcut #2 to transform into a cube to rest. I grabbed her and prepared to get some rest. "Where have you been?" I voice caused me to yelp and looked around to find Bulkhead looking down at me. "I...uh," I bit my lip, transforming into my robot mode, "Went to go buy this dinosaur mask," I held out a large purple dinosaur mask.

"Where did you get the requirements to get _that?_" Bulkhead asked. "Um...I went to sell cookies for it," I grinned. "You were illegally racing, weren't you?" Bulkhead asked. "W-What? No! Of course, not...how did you know?" I asked, blinking. "Because Bumblebee saw you," Bulkhead replied. "What!" I hissed. Bumblebee sneaks up behind me and taps my shoulder, causing me to yelp again.

"Alright, you caught me. Just please don't tell Optimus," I begged. "You know, Ariona, what you're doing right now is what Cliffjumper was going through," Bulkhead said, causing me to flinch, "If you keep on being careless, you could end up in the same state as Cliffjumper,"

"Don't tell me _that!_" I snapped in anger. _'Ariona...'_ Bumblebee beeps, a sigh could be heard. I frowned, "I just want to do something else other than sit around here, doing nothing, not being able to fight 'Cons..."

Bulkhead places a hand on my shoulder, "I wont tell anyone. But, if Optimus finds out without me telling him, you're on your own on that one," _'I wont say anything, either,'_ Bumblebee beeps. I smiled a bit, "Thanks, you guys. I promise that I wont try to get myself caught,"

~~

_"Where are you now...?" The female asked herself._


	7. Chapter 7

I watched Bulkhead and Bumblebee as they were being defrosted, while keeping Swiftcut #2 occupied, which was like trying to entertain a child on caffeine. "I'm telling you, we're fine," Bulkhead said, standing up while removing the cords from him. "The only way you can be fine, is to endure standard defrosting procedure. You know contact with sub-zero temperature can cause permanent system damage," Ratchet says as he pushed Bulkhead back to a sitting position.

"Ratchet, have you learned anything of our arctic fine?" Optimus steps in. "Not yet, the pod can't be opened while it's frozen solid," Ratchet replied. Bulkhead and Bumblebee have returned from the arctic with a strange pod, which of that I do not find to my liking. I watched Bulkhead and Bumblebee drive out of the base after they were defrosted.

"Don't you think that bringing that pod was a bad idea? It could have a reason to be at the arctic. What if what's inside it has the earge to kill? Like what humans said: "curiosity killed the badger"," I said. _"You mean 'Cat', sir?"_ Swiftcut #2 corrects me. "Y-Yeah," I said in embarrassment.

"Then, Arcee and I will search the arctic for the origin of our find," Optimus said. I blinked. "W-What? Why can't we just throw the pod back into the arctic and forget about it?" I asked. "And make Bulkhead and Bumblebee's search worth nothing?" Arcee crossed her arms. "...Sorry, it's just that-" I sighed. Arcee smiled, "Don't worry, we'll be fine.

"Only until your sensor's sound," Ratchet says, "Remember, once your core temperature drops to the blue zone, system failures are likely,"

I turned my attention towards the entrance, seeing Bulkhead and Bumblebee return with the humans. "Miss us, doc-bot?" Miko smirks as she steps out of Bulkhead. Ratchet lets out a groan in annoyance, "Shouldn't they be in school?" "On a Saturday? We have the whole weekend off, to spend with you," Miko said. "Why do you think I'm here?" I rolled my optics at Ratchet with a smile.

"I wasn't expecting a car pool. What gives Arcee?" Jack asked the blue female. "It's my turn for exploration duty," Arcee replied. "Oh, too bad. It's a beautiful day for a drive, wouldn't want you to feel guilty leaving me indoors," Jack crossed his arms, looking up at Arcee with a smile. "_Arctic_ exploration duty," Arcee corrects herself.

"Indoors where it's warm," Jack says with a grin. "The arctic? I've always wanted to see snow," Raf says with a enthusiastic smile. "I would invite you to come along with us, Rafael, but the conditions are too extreme, even for we Autobots," Optimus says. "Oh, okay, I understand," Raf said with a little bit of disappointment. Optimus starts his way towards the bridge opening, then stops. "But, I will bring you back a snowball" I let out a slight giggle.

"That would be awesome," Raf's smile returned. Once Optimus and Arcee were gone, I made my way over to Bulkhead and Bumblebee, along with the humans. "So, what should we do today?" Miko asked. Bumblebee makes excited beeps as he made gestures with his hands, as if he were holding a video game controller. "A video game tournament!" Raf grins, "Last one standing wins!" Bumblebee cheers.

"Bulkhead, Bumblebee, get over here, now!" Ratchet catches the attention of the males. I blinked and watch them leave our group to join Ratchet. I exchanged glances with the humans and shrugged my shoulders at them. I looked back up and ignored the humans playing games, but set my attention on the Autobots. I swooped down to pick up Swiftcut #2 and left the humans to join the rest of the Autobots.

"What's the problem?" I asked. "The ground bridge is down," Ratchet replied. I accidentally drop Swiftcut #2 from my arms going limp. "Hurry and move those panels," Ratchet says to Bulkhead and Bumblebee. "I-Isn't there anything I can do?" I asked. _"Irresponsible parent, Irresponsible!"_ Swiftcut #2 shouts from the floor, mentioning about me dropping her.

"At the time being, no," Ratchet replied. I looked down at Swiftcut #2 and picked her up, while she was still rambling on. I pressed the gem-like button on the doll's chest and she was turned back into a cube. I sighed a her and placed the cube on the platform near me. There was a brownout, which caused me to yelp a bit. Ratchet removes one of the green chips from the panel, which had marks as if it was chewed at.

"We most defiantly have a problem. But, what could have caused this?" Ratchet asked. Another brownout, making me flinch. "Or _that_," Bulkhead says. "It might be the main grid. Hopefully it isn't a sub-station malfunction," Ratchet looks at the chip again. "Hey, look what I've found!" Raf calls out. "We're busy- Ahh!" Ratchet suddenly yells in horror.

I blinked and looked over at Raf, seeing a metal creature in his arms. The Autobots start to panic and step away from Raf while Bulkhead and Bumblebee were pointing their cannons at the creature. "Hey! What's with you guys?" Miko asked, standing in front of Raf with Jack while holding up her hands.

"Scraplet! Scraplet!" Bulkhead yells. "What's a Scraplet?" Raf asked, jumping a bit to speak directly to the Autobots while Jack and Miko were in his way. "The most _dangerous_ vermin to ever crawl on the face of Cybertron," Ratchet replies in fear. I glanced at the Scraplet, then burst out laughing. "_This?_ Are you kidding?" Jack chuckles slightly. "You guys are like, _huge!_ Scrapy here is, _teeny_," Miko says.

"Yeah, what can this cute little thing do?" I start walking towards Raf. "Ariona, you don't understand! Get away from it!" Bulkhead shouts. I kneel down in front of Raf and smiled at the Scraplet, seeing it open it's optics. "Hey little guy," I say in a calm, soothing voice as I reached out my hand to it. The only response I get from it, was the Scraplet opening it's mouth and relieving thousands of metal shark-like teeth.

I yelped and stumbled back, quickly getting back up and running behind Bulkhead, looking from behind him while making a confused, but frightened expression. The Scraplet jumps out of Raf's arms and crawls towards us, gnashing it's teeth. I immediately bare my blades, putting them together to form a gun and shoot at the Scraplet along with Bulkhead and Bumblebee. The Scraplet jumps onto the nearest bot, Bumblebee and starts to eat it's way his leg.

Bumblebee starts to panic more and tries to grab at the Scraplet, falling backwards during the process. Once he had the Scraplet in his hand, Bumblebee flings the thing across the room. The Scraplet fixes itself and gets ready to have a go at us again. Raf ran towards the Scraplet with a crowbar and yells as he swings it down. Raf continues to his the Scraplet until it was offline. Jack grabs the crowbar out of Raf's hands before he could swing again, "Easy, killer,"

"I-I didn't expect that to happen..!" I say, still in shock. "Bumblebee, I'm sorry!" Raf says as he ran up to the yellow bot. _'Don't worry about it,'_ Bumblebee beeps as a reply. "Is he going to be okay?" Raf asked, looking up at Ratchet. "Only a mesh wound," Ratchet lets out breath, "He'll live,"

"Now do you believe me!" Bulkhead said, mostly looking at me, "All Scraplets do is eat anything metal, including _living_ metal!"

I bit my lip, ever thinking that a Scraplet would be _cute_, "Luckily I didn't have to face any during the war..." I mumbled. "So, the bug's squashed. Game over, right?" Jack shrugged his arms. "No. When it comes to Scraplets, there are more than just_ one_. And I fear that I may know how they got in here," Ratchet replied.

:

"I knew that we should have thrown that pod back into the arctic when we had the chance!" I shout. "It's not a pod. It's a Scraplet trap," Ratchet corrects me. "An _empty_ Scraplet trap," Bulkhead adds nervously. "This must have been ejected into space eons ago, only for it to wind up in the arctic where the temperature kept theme in stasis," Ratchet says. "And they have the _urge to kill_," I crossed my arms, mentioning again of what I've said before.

"So, how many Scraplets are we talking about?" Raf asked. "A thousand. With the power outage and ground bridge damage, are sure signs that their infestation is well underway," Ratchet said. "We have to warn Optimus and Arcee about this," I said in concern.

:

"Ratchet to Optimus, do you read me? We have a situation!" Ratchet calls out. But, only to receive static from the computer as a reply. "The Scraplets have gotten into the com-link system!" Ratchet slams his fist down in frustration, "If we don't irradiate these creatures immediately, they could reduce the entire base to a scrapheap!"

"I say we bug out of here and let them keep it!" Bulkhead says. Bumblebee beeps while nodding in agreement. "And let Optimus and Arcee go offline in the arctic? The worst way to die, I say," I said with a grumble. "They will?" Jack squeaked out. "What do you think..?" I mumbled. "But Bulkhead, you never run!" Miko looks up at Bulkhead.

"Miko, you haven't seen a swarm of these things devour a bot._ I have_. They pick you apart from the inside out, going for the juicy bits first, fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit, until there's nothing left, and I mean _nothing_. Not even your optics," Bulkhead said in grief. I shivered from the scene I received in my processor while listening to Bulkhead's speech, "Really didn't need to know that..."

"You have to let us help," Jack said. "Yeah, we're not made of metal," Raf smiled. "Technically, I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality," Ratchet said skeptically, "But, it would appear to be an advantage, under these circumstances,"

"Okay, so we'll pair off, one bot, one human. I'll watch your back while you repair the ground bridge," Jack says to Ratchet. "I have no problem on doing that as well," I say. "And we'll go on a bug hunt," Miko says with a smirk. Bulkhead and Bumblebee exchanged glances, shivering from the sound of that. Without further delay, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Miko and Raf were off to look out through the base.

"Ariona, I'm sure that you'll be fine, stop squirming," Jack said, noticing myself in human form and pointing my gun in every direction. "Y-You can't be too careful," I said. Suddenly, the lights in the room were shut off, causing me to let out a loud scream, along with the sound of electricity buzzing and Ratchet groaning. Once the lights were back on, I find Jack looking at me, covering his ears, and an annoyed Ratchet narrowing his optics at me, "What was _that?_"

"Um...A long loud piercing cry?" I defined the meaning of a scream in embarrassment. "I think he meant by: 'why did you scream?'," Jack says. "Well, uh...I kind of, um..._really_ afraid of dark narrow places..." I twiddle my thumbs. "Why?" Jack asked. "Look, can we talk about this later?" I asked, not wanting to answer.

Jack nods in understatement, then looks over at Ratchet, "How's it going over there?" Ratchet stands up from the panel, "I've repaired the damaged conductors and re-routed the central conduits, but the ground bridge still wont receive power!"

My sesors picked up sounds of small metal clinking together. I follow the sound with my optics and see a large group of Scraplets prowling in the shadows above us. Once they see Ratchet, they all bare their teeth and fly towards him, like a hungry group of mosquitoes. "You never said they could fly!" Jack yells. The swarm attacks Ratchet and forced him down, starting to eat away at him. "Ratchet!"

I turn my gun back into blades and dash towards him, swiping away the Scraplets. A faint sound of a beat enters my audio sensors, and I turned towards the platform in horror, seeing the Scraplets eating at Swiftcut #2, almost finished. "#2-!" I gasped in pain as I clenched my chest. The cube of Swiftcut #2 was completely gone, nothing but a small ball of a miniature spark left. The pain in my chest increased as I was forced to transform back into robot mode.

The spark zoomed away from the Scraplets and entered inside my chest, returning to the main spark which was mine. I yelped as the final pain was gone, leaving me to gasp for breath. But, instead of pain from the inside, it was replaced with pain on the outside of my body. I clenched my teeth as I tried to swat away the Scraplets that were now attacking me as well.

"Get the fire extinguisher!" Ratchet shouts. Jack looks around, grabbing the extinguisher once it was in sight. He uses it on Ratchet and I, causing the Scraplets to go in stasis and fall off. I breath sharply in pain, trying to ignore it. There were more Scraplets coming, and I had to be ready. I pushed myself up and brought my blades back together again. I blinked once I hear the rest of us inside the base have returned.

"Ratchet, get the patch kit. We're leaking Energon like-Whoa!" Bulkhead yells from seeing the hundreds of Scraplets. I start shooting at them, slightly succeeding. I gasped when I miss my aim at a Scraplet, one that was now feeding on me. _"Ah! [Get off me!]"_ I screeched, struggling to remove the Scraplets from me.

:

"Did we get them all?" Jack asked once all of the Scraplets in the room were offline. A faint sound of a Scraplets deeper into the base was heard. "_Hardly_. These were just scouts," Ratchet replied, disappointed. _"Ugh...[You have got to be kidding...]"_ "Ugh... [You have got to be kidding...]" I groaned along with Bumblebee. My body was already numb from the pain the Scraplets caused, and I'm not sure if the rest of us bots can take anymore. "So the rest of them know we're in here..?" Bulkhead asked in fear.

"If we allow them to become their meal, Optimus and Arcee will never make it home," Ratchet said, "We must get the ground bridge operational," "Then, we can use it to send the Scraplets anywhere on Earth," Raf says. "Why not back to the arctic?" Jack suggests, "We already know they don't do cold,"

"Sweet. One stop shopping!" Miko smirks. "The arctic's temperature should freeze them on contact. So, if the ground bridge is stil down...there must be a breach in the Energon fuel line!" Ratchet says after giving in some thought. "I-I'll go," I pushed myself to get up from the ground, but failed at the attempt. "You are in no position to go anywhere, Ariona," Ratchet says. "None of us are in the position," Bulkhead adds.

"Where can we find it?" Jack asked. "And how can we fix it?" Raf adds. Ratchet instructs the humans on where to fine the fuel line and what to do. Once they were gone, I let out a sigh, "I hope we make it to bring Optimus and Arcee back..."

"So, if we get...-when, we get the ground bridge open, we send the creepy crawlies out, or bring our bots in?" Bulkhead asked Ratchet in a weak state. "Optimus and Arcee will be fresh meat. If we bring them in first, the Scraplets will have no reason to leave. We'll need bait," Ratchet says. "Where are we gonna get bait! The Scraplets have already helped themselves to everything here!" Bulkhead shouts. "Making one of us bait...?" I suggested.

Without getting a reply, the sounds of Scraplets were closer, making me scrunch my face in fear and pushing myself further down onto the floor. I watched in terror as the remaining swarm circled above us like vultures. _"No..."_ I hissed slightly, becoming more afraid. "Ratchet, all systems are at go!" Jack's voice calls out. "Fire it up!" Miko was following behind along with Raf. Ratchet struggles to get up, but was able to grab the lever. "Ground bridge...activated," Ratchet falls forward, pushing the lever to go down along with him.

The bridge springs back to life, making me sigh in utter relief. I blinked, noticing Bulkhead getting up and running towards the bridge opening, "Bulkhead, w-what are you doing!"

"What you suggested, being bait!" Bulkhead shouts as he waves at the Scraplets to grab their attention, "You want the main course? Come and get it!" The Scraplets gnashed their teeth as they flew towards Bulkhead. He starts to run thorough the ground bridge, with the Scraplets following behind. I watched the bridge, waiting for any signs of familiar objects. Then, stepping through the bridge, was Bulkhead, along with Optimus and Arcee, still kicking. I sighed, smiling widely in relief once more.

:

Once Bumblebee had recovered, he helped me onto the berth he was using. _'Why did you let me go first?'_ Bumblebee asked in beeps. "You know I always put others first before me..." I smile up at him, despite my weak state. Bumblebee shakes his head at me, making a slight smileing expression. He steps back and walks away to let Ratchet work on me. "All you need now is rest," Ratchet says after patching up major wounds. "Thanks, Ratchet, for everything about today..." I said calmly. Ratchet nods at me with a small smile, and walks away to let me rest.

When I was about to close my optics, Optimus approaches the berth I was laying on. "How are you feeling, Ariona?" He asked. "Numb, mostly. I'll pull through," I made a grinning embarrassed expression, "By te way, you've never brought Raf that snowball," Optimus makes a face at me. I chuckle weakly, "Just kidding," I sighed.

"I'm really glad that Ratchet was able to save you and Arcee...maybe if I were the same as back then, I could help you all a lot more in the future..." I closed my optics and let out a deep sigh. I flinched, squeezing my eyes shut from feeling something stroke my cheek. I immediately open my optics again, only to see Optimus walking away. I turned my attention to the ceiling above me, feeling an emotion I've never experienced. I shake the questioning thoughts of the emotion and closed my optics again, drifting off to stasis sleep.

:

Replacing my vision of darkness, was a bright blue spark, beating strongly. The color slowly turned white. The spark starts to disappear, as if it were being deleted from existence...

:


	8. Chapter 8

"Why do I even play these games? I loose every time!" I throw the controller onto the couch and crossed my arms like a child. Bumblebee beeps out a laugh. "Why not a game of...who can make the biggest dent on the floor?" I re-think that, seeing Bumblebee's figure and my puny one, "Never mind, I wont win at that either," I let out a sigh. Bumblebee beeps as he points towards Ratchet, who was standing in front of the computer. Which, was receiving some ball. I followed Bumblebee to see what was going on along with the rest of the Autobots and humans.

"Optimus, I'm getting a signal on a restricted band. It seems to be coming from a star ship inside the solar system," Ratchet says. "_That's_ never happened before..." I made a questioning look. Ratchet types into the computer, finding what was causing the signal. "It's an Autobot identification signal," He says, surprised. "So, they're other Autobots out there?" Jack asked.

"A mass was scattered to galaxies when Cybertron went dark. But, 'Cons have been known to set traps by using false beacons," Arcee answered.

"Unknown vessel, this is Autobot outpost: Omega 1. Identify yourself," Optimus calls out. The computer statics, then a voice replies, "I've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat,"

"_Oh slag_..." I breathed out, narrowing my optics in disbelief. "Wheeljack!" Bulkhead says in surprise, "You old 'Con crusher, what're you doing all the way out here!"

"Bulkhead? That's you? What's with all the security?" Wheeljack's voice asked. "The rock we're on is crawling with 'Cons. How soon can you get here and even the odds?" Bulkhead asked. "Sometime tomorrow, if I put petal to the petal," Wheeljack replies in a show off way. "Another Bot's coming here, how cool is that?" Miko says in excitement. "Would be a lot more cool if it wasn't _him_," I scowled. "What's with you all of a sudden?" Jack asked. "Let's just say Wheeljack and Ariona haven't really been on the best of terms," Bulkhead answered.

"Wheeljack, I only known him by reputation. Can you verify his voice print?" Optimus asked Bulkhead. "He is one _thousand_ percent the real deal, Optimus," Bulkhead replied. "We will send landing coordinates, Wheeljack," Optimus says to the Autobot, "Safe journey,"

"See you soon, buddy, I'll make sure you get a proper welcome" Bulkhead smiled. The connection was then switched off. "So, who's the boyfriend," Arcee asked. I stifle a laugh. "Me and Jackie go way back. We were part of the same war unit: The Wreckers. Which means the 'Cons are going to wish he never made contact with us," Bulkhead smirked. I continued to stand stiff with my arms crossed in concern.

"Ariona, can't you at least show Wheeljack a decent welcome?" Bulkhead asked, knowing well about how Wheeljack and I never really got along well on Cybertron. "Pfft, that show off?" I raised an optic ridge. Bulkhead makes a face at me. I groaned, "_Fine_..."

:

"Wheeljack's ship is approaching the landing zone," Arcee states. Miko gasps in excitement. "You think he's here to visit?" Raf asked. "Maybe he'll stay! He'll have to find his own human though," Miko says after thinking. "Hopefully he has more important stuff to do..." I mumbled. Ratchet puts in the location to pick up Wheeljack on the ground bridge, "Ground bridge is cycling," The lever goes on a frizz again. Ratchet slams his fist to make it work, "Blasted Scraplets! The equipment hasn't been the same ever sense,"

"So, Wheeljack's going to land half way around the world, and we're going to pick him up using the ground bridge?" Jack asked, confused on how that works. "We can't risk giving the location of our base, just in case the Decepticons are tracking Wheeljack's ship," Optimus answers Jack's confusion. I made a face at Bulkhead, who was still pacing back and forth. "Can't you chill? You're going to give me a processor malfunction," I say.

"I've never seen you so stoked," Miko chuckles at Bulkhead. "You bet! You're going to love Wheeljack. We were like brothers! Tonight, we're going to party!" Bulkhead fist pumps the air. "Sweet!" Miko cheers. I rolled my optics, sighing. I snapped my head towards the computer screen, seeing red dots close to Wheeljack's ship, which meant that Decepticons were behind him.

"Bogies," Arcee narrowed her optics, "And they're moving fast towards Wheeljack's position,"

"'Con scum!" Bulkhead shouts. "We'll go help him," Arcee says, walking towards the entrance to the bridge opening with Bulkhead and Bumblebee. "Hurry, Ratchet, we're missing all the action!" Bulkhead says. Ratchet activates the ground bridge to the location, "I'll prepare to bring you all back in,"

Bulkhead chuckles, "This is Wheeljack we're talking about," He runs into the bridge with Arcee and Bumblebee following behind. Within minutes, all three of the Autobots returned with Wheeljack. "That was fast..." I commented while raising an optic ridge. The ground bridge was deactivated behind them. "Hey, Jackie, I want you to meet my other best buddy, Miko. She could wreck with the best of us," Bulkhead smiled at Wheeljack, acting as if there were no Decepticons giving us a trouble at all.

"Hiya," Miko waves at Wheeljack. The white Autobot walks up to her, bending down a bit to look at her better, "You keeping Bulkhead out of trouble?" He asked with a smirk. "I try, but trouble finds us anyway," Miko shakes her head. "We're gonna get along just fine," Wheeljack said to Bulkhead. His optics set on me once I was in view, giving him a look while having my arms crossed. "Ariona, it's been a while. Still looking fine as ever, I see," Wheeljack smirks at me. "Yeah, _right_," I narrow my optics more, not impressed.

Wheeljack lets out a chuckle and turns around to see Optimus walking up to him. "Optimus Prime. It's a privilege,"

"Likewise, soldier. What have you to report from your journey?" Optimus asked. "Been bouncing from rock to rock, searching for signs of friend or foe," Wheeljack replied in his laid-back way, "Now, I find both.

"We are few, but strong. We have suffered loses, but, we have grown," Optimus says, glancing at the humans, "And we would welcome a new member into our fold,"

"I would be honored," Wheeljack says. "Then, let's get this party started!" Bulkhead cheers, slamming his hand onto the unexpected Wheeljack's back. I let out a long groan.

:

I sat on the ground, looking as if my life was ruined. I watched the metal ball being tossed back and forth across the room by Bulkhead and Wheeljack, following with the loud metal music Miko was making with her electric guitar. I face palmed myself and let out a groan. "So, what's that about?" Jack asked Arcee. "It's called "lobbing", favorite pass time on Cybertron. Especially among the warrior class," Arcee answered. "C'mon you guys, show some moves!" Miko says to Jack and I. "Oh, okay then," Raf starts to do a dance called the robot. Bumblebee examines Raf's moves and starts to do the robot along with him. Seeing this, caused me to giggle a bit.

"Get up, lazy metal!" Miko smiles at me. "Uh, maybe some other time," I recover from my giggle fest. "Where's Optimus," Jack asked, looking around the room. "Went for a drive," Arcee replied, then seeing Jack's questioning look, "Primes don't party," "Kind of wished that I've gone with him," I sighed. "I thought you were a party bot, Ariona," Miko said. "Well, I am, but with _him_ around, it ruins my mood," I tilt my head over to Wheeljack.

"What's the deal between you guys anyway? You're usually-_always_ in a cheerful mood," Jack says with a confused look. I let out a sigh, "It's not that I hate Wheeljack, I can never hate. It's when he's showing off that bugs me a lot," I answer, "Especially when he rubs it in,"

The metal ball Bulkhead and Wheeljack were throwing around wounds up smashing the ground bridge controls. "You know, I'm trying to do some fixing here!" Ratchet yells in annoyance. "Sorry doc, guess we were a little, charged up," Wheeljack says. "Well, maybe you should learn how to catch," I say. "Ariona, you're taking your grudge a bit too far," Bulkhead said. "So?" I crossed my arms. "It's alright Bulk. I know how she gets around me," Wheeljack smirks as he winks at me. Instead of reacting with a scoff, I blinked and made a questioning look. _That's never happened before..._

"Hey, do you guys want to listen to one of the stories about Wheeljack and I?" Bulkhead asked everyone, directing mostly to the humans. "Of course!" Miko grinned, leaning her guitar against the stereo. "...Might as well," I sighed and and made myself comfortable.

:

"So there we were, no communications, low on Energon, surrounded by 'Cons, so what does Wheeljack do?" Bulkhead turns to the kids, who were excited to hear rest. Bulkhead let's out a heartily laugh, "Tell them, Jackie!" Everyone's attention was now on Wheeljack. "...Well, what I do best," Wheeljack says with a smile. Bulkhead laughs some more, "He chucks his only grenade smack into the primary heat exchanger!"

"Yeah, seemed like a good idea at the time," Wheeljack said. "The joint went super nova!" Bulkhead raises his arms for dramatic effect. "Awesome," Miko said with an excited expression. "Yeah, I'm still picking shrapnel out of my backside," Bulkhead smiled. "I'm not surprised, giving the size of your back side," Arcee remarks. Bumblebee beeps out in laughter.

"I guess it was a _good_ story," I smiled a bit. Bulkhead smiles at me. "There it is, Jackie's signiture: One grenade, One shot," Bulkhead looks over at Wheeljack, "Hey, you alright?" "What?" Wheeljack blinks his optics. "You don't seem like yourself," Bulkhead said. "I'll say," I mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Wheeljack asked as he stood up. "I don't know, you seem..._quiet_," Bulkhead answered. _Isn't that a good thing?_

"Aw, I've been stuck in a can too long," Wheeljack says, "I should go topside before it gets stir-crazy," "I have patrol in the morning, you can come along," Bulkhead offers. "Let's go now," Wheeljack suggests.

"And break up the party? Come on, the gang's _loving_ you!" Bulkhead says, "You got to tell them about the battle on Dark Mount Pass," "You tell them. You're better at it," Wheeljack said. He turns around and looks at me, "How about Ariona touring me the rest of your base?"

"What?" I clicked, surprised. "Oh yeah, sure. You guys can catch up," Bulkhead said, stuttering a bit. "_Catch up?_ On what? Trying to beat each other up into scraps?" I asked as I stood up from the floor, "I don't think so,"

"Come on, it wont be that bad," Arcee said. I looked at her, then at the smirking Wheeljack. I let out a sigh, "Fine," I walk towards the other rooms, punching Wheeljack in the chest as I went, "Come on, I want to get this over with," Wheeljack stifles a chuckle and followed behind.

:

"There's the Energon storage, power generator, armory, no idea we had that, that's really it for the tour," I said with an emotionless voice. I halt in place twirled around, almost causing Wheeljack to bump into me, "Satisfied? Also, I do appreciate some space. I've told you a lot of times about my bubble," I crossed my arms with an unamused look. "Yeah, sorry..." Wheeljack takes a step back, "Do you...know the location of this bunker..?"

"Well, if you really want to know, somewhere near a small town, Jasper, Nevada...not really important to you, anyway," I turned around again and start to walk, but a little slower than my normal pace. "Can't say it does..." Wheeljack says from behind, "So, is there any way out besides bridging?"

"How come? You feel like leaving...? That's really not a bad idea..." I chuckled a bit while turning around again, finding Wheeljack still too close behind. "Seriously.." I took two steps back. Wheeljack remained silent. "Well, if it really makes you feel any better, I'll show you," I shrugged as I walked around Wheeljack to lead him towards the exit. "At least I don't have to deal with you anymore...come to think of it," I turn around to face him again, "You haven't really gotten on my circuits than you normally do... Care to tell me why?"

"What do you mean?" Wheeljack asked. "Well, first off, _'you'_ would usually punch my shoulder or my back to "cheer me up". Plus, you're usually not as friendly with me- Wait, why am I _remainding_ you of this?" I realized what I was saying.

"Look, Ariona, I've been thinking over the years, and I thought that we've gone off to a bad start. So, why don't we just have a fresh start. How about it?" Wheeljack asked with a smirk as he walks up to me. "Don't know...but one thing I do know, is that you're a lot more different from before," I said. Wheeljack leans his face towards mine, "Is that so..?"

"It is so..." I narrowed my optics, remaining in place. There was a long silence between us as we stared at each other. I then clapped, causing Wheeljack to blink, "Well, I say that we get back to the group!" I said with a wide smile. I turned around and start to walk again. _Because I've got my job done..._

:

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Wheeljack asked as we both walked into the room everyone else was in. "I was just telling the guys all about you and me. About the battle at Dark Mount Pass," Bulkhead replied, his voice strange. "That's uh, heck of a story," Wheeljack says. "Yep," Bulkhead's optics start to glare at Wheeljack. "Tell it,"

"All we've done is talk, how about after we go off roding?" Miko asked. "Miko, stay out of this!" Bulkhead shouts. I blinked at him. _Has he realized a bit, too?_

"Bulkhead, easy," Arcee says, trying to calm the Autobot down. "I'm not sure I-" "Tell it!" Bulkhead interrupts Wheeljack. There was a short pause.

"Fine, you wanna live in the past, Bulkhead...? The Wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and a smelting pit. The 'Cons were vicious, baring down on us with everything they had. Me and Bulkhead engaged the enemy, left 'em for scrap. Then, i made us a way out, using their back sides as stepping stones across the pit...ain't that how it happened?" Wheeljack asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, that's _exactly_ how it happened..." Bulkhead still glaring, "Except for one little thing..." Wheeljack blinks.

"I wasn't there," Bulkhead narrowed his optics. Everyone looked at Bulkhead and Wheeljack in surprise. I looked at Wheeljack, seeing him scowling. "I've already left the Wreckers to join Optimus," Bulkhead points at "Wheeljack", "But you wouldn't know that if all you did was access Wheeljack's public service record,"

I let out a small chuckle as I smirked, "Now to finally beat him to a scrap-Ah!"

An arm stretched out to me and wraps around my body. "Wheeljack" easily pulls me along with him as he shoves through the Autobots to get towards the ground bridge controls.

"Ariona!"

"Stay back, or the trash gets slagged," "Wheeljack" says menacingly, tightening is grip on me. I widen my optics in shock, feeling sore pain coming from my stomach area, the scar. Everyone stood their ground, keeping their eyes and optics on "Wheeljack". He turns around to glare at Ratchet to stay put. I whimpered slightly as I tried to free my arms from the grasp, trying to bare my blades as well. But, the grip restrained the opening. I couldn't blast my way out either without the use of my blades.

_"Ugh! [Let go of me!]"_ I hissed. "Decepticon coward! Let her go and face me!" Bulkhead shouts. "Don't fret. Plenty of fighting to come," "Wheeljack" says, his voice now different and scratchy. I growled and struggle some more. "Is there a real Wheeljack!" Jack asked.

"Oh indeed. And I expect Lord Starscream is making sport of him," "Wheeljack replied. "L-*bzzt* Lord...?" I couldn't help but let out a weak laugh. The grip tightens on me and I scrunch up my face, squeezing one optic shut. I hear coordinates being put into the ground bridge controls and the sound of the lever being pulled down. "About time," "Wheeljack" hisses. I look over my shoulder, seeing the ground bridge being activated.

I gasped as I was pulled back along with "Wheeljack" as he walked backwards in front of the bridge opening in caution. "Let's get this party started," "Wheeljack" says in amusement. _"Ah-! [Slag it!]"_ I struggled more to get out of the grasp.

Suddenly, something kicks the back of "Wheeljack's" back, causing him to fall forward and loosing my grip. Tumbling, I quickly rolled forward and got back onto my feet. I quickly turn around, curious to see what happened. I blinked with a click, seeing another Wheeljack, the real one. "I'd shut that bridge before the stink comes through," He says. Doing as said, Ratchet quickly closes the gate.

The two Wheeljacks look at each other, unsheathing their swords from their backs. Bulkhead grabs my shoulder and pulls me farther away from the Bot and 'Con. Then, they start to fight. "Uh, which one is the real one?" Raf asked, fixing his glasses. "Uh...I lost track," Miko said. After a few swings, one Wheeljack grab's the others sword out of his hand and strikes him down at the chance. The defeated Wheeljack fell back, defeated. "That's my Jackie," Bulkhead smiled. I guess the real one was the victor.

Wheeljack sheaths his swords and turns to face Ratchet, "You, flip the switch. Time to take out the trash,"

Bulkhead walks next to him. "All yours, buddy," Wheeljack says to him. Bulkhead gladly takes the fake and throws him into the bridge opening, sending the 'Con away for good. Along with a _present_. "Nice 'lob'," Wheeljack comments on Bulkhead's throw. The bridge was closed, causing me to let out a sigh. "Glad that's over," Jack sighs as well. "You know what I think should finish this awesome day?" Miko asked with a suspicious look. I clicked as I tilt my head at her, bearing a questionable look.

"Finishing the party!" Miko makes a rock sign as she grabs her guitar and starts jamming out. I let out a nervous laugh and slip out the group of humans, a dancing Bumblebee and a calm Arcee. "Phew," I breathed out as I leaned on the platform's railing. "Ariona, how are you holding up?" Bulkhead asked, walking up to me with Wheeljack by his side.

"Still a bit shaken up, but no wounds," I lift up part of my mouth to form half a smile. I looked at Wheeljack, "...Thanks to him," "It's not like I did that to save your skidplate," Wheeljack raises and optic ridge at me. My half smile disappeared, replace by narrowed optics. Wheeljack lets out a laugh and come over to pat my back roughly, "Just playing. Glad to see that you're the same Grey-'Bot I know,"

"R-right," I slightly laugh along. I looked up to see Optimus returning inside the base. "Welcome back," I said with a nervous smile. Optimus greets with a nod, glancing over at the party group at the other side of the room. "It's like I'm re-living a nightmare," Ratchet sighs in dread. "You're going to have to get use to it, I guess," I shrug a bit with a smile. "So, now that you're apart of team Prime, we've got to get a vehicle mode for you. I have some ideas," Bulkhead elbows Wheeljack.

"Actually, about that. Now that my ship's repaired, I'm itching to know what else I might find out there," Wheeljack replied. I tilt my head to the side. "Wait, you're leaving?" Miko asked, running up to us, "Why?" Wheeljack doesn't reply. I quickly read his expression, seeing a bit of disappointment in it, _"Huh?"_

"Well," Wheeljack snaps his attention back at Bulkhead, "Because some Bots never change..." Bulkhead chuckles a bit. Wheeljack forms a small smile. "Wheeljack, know that you are always welcome here," Optimus says. Wheeljack nods a bit. "Jackie never stays," Bulkhead slaps his buddy's back, "But, he always comes back," I let out a slight giggle while smiling widely.

:

The ground bridge closes behind us, reaching the destination of where Wheeljack's ship was at to say good bye. "There's room for two," Wheeljack offers Bulkhead, "Even with a back side like yours. Who knows what we'll find out there. Some of the old crew,"

Bulkhead thought, looking back at our group, Arcee, Bumblebee, the three humans and I. "Sounds like but, but," Bulkhead faces Wheelack, "My ties are here now. With them. With her," Bulkhead smiles at Miko. Wheeljack nods, and looks at Miko, "If anything happens to my favorite Wrecker, I'm coming after you," Wheeljack teases. "I'll take care of him. Now, say 'cheese'," Miko takes out her phone and snaps a picture of Bulkhead and Wheeljack.

After putting her phone away, I walk up to Bulkhead and Wheeljack. "Have a good trip, Wheeljack. You can come back and visit in, oh, I don't know, a couple of decades?" I joke with a smirk. "Sure thing," Wheeljack laughs, playing along. He reaches his hand out to me and I prepare for a fist to my forehead. Instead, I got a pat on the head, not rough at all. I blinked at him in surprise. Wheeljack laughs at my expression and takes his hand off my head. "Take care, Ariona,"

:

"See, I told you it would be better to lighten up to Jackie instead of picking fights with him all of the time," Bulkhead smiled at me once we've got back to base.

"Yeah, you're right," I smiled, "We just got off at a bad start, I guess,"

:


	9. Chapter 9

"Prime!" Fowler's voice interrupts my conversation with the human, "Prime!" I followed the humans to get a view of what was going on. "Agent Fowler, to what do we owe-" "What else? 'Cons! I chased them off, but not before they blew me out of the sky!" Miko giggles, "_Again?_" I looked down at her before looking up at the screen again. "They tried to smash and grab the D.N.G.S," Fowler explains. "Dinglehopper?" I made a confused look.

"D.N.G.S. Dynamic Nuclear Generation System," Fowler corrects me with a bit of annoyance in his voice. Miko and I exchanged smiles. Fowler presses a button to show us an image of a metal box that was strapped tight onto a floor, "It's a prototype energy source that I'm reporting for testing,"

"That's _absurd_. Why would Starscream bother with such technology?" Ratchet asked in a scoff. "I'm guessing, to make a big bad primitive weapon of mass destruction!" Fowler answered, "If this baby were to melt down, it would irradiate this state and the four next door!" I blinked.

"Uh...did Fowler say what state he was currently in...?" Raf asked in a nervous tone. "I wonder why humans would make such excessive objects..." I crossed my arms. "I'm a sitting duck here, Prime. I need you to spin up your bridge and send the D.N.G.S to it's destination, before the 'Cons come back to get it," Fowler says.

"I'm afraid sending such object through a ground bridge is out of the question. If there would be an accident during it's transmission, the radiation of which you speak can profligate through the ground bridge vortex and harm all _fifty_ states," Optimus says in concern. Fowler was taken aback from what Optimus had said, "Got any better ideas?"

"Transport the...D.N.G.S-sy in secret? Somehow?" I shrugged my shoulders. "It seems to be a good option. I will plan the routes from my location," Fowler says.

:

"We're locked on your coordinates, Optimus," Ratchet said, "You should be able to reach your point by sundown," "I hope this actually works," I bit my lip, anxious. Optimus had the D.N.G.S stored in his trailer, with Arcee inside watching over it. Bulkhead and Bumblebee drove behind Optimus as back up encase anything would go wrong. Seems like things have started to go weird, though. A group of cars and a helicopter were currently on the Bots' tails.

"It's a whole group of 'Cons!" Fowler said. "What? I'm not picking up any signal. They seem to be using a type of cloaking of some sort," Ratchet rubbed his chin. I let out a questioning hum and tilt my head to the side a bit.

"Our resilience are not Decepticons, they are human," Optimus says after a while. "_Human?_" We all say together. "Oh please, taking on our Bots? They're toast!" Miko fists the air.

"Autobots, maintain your cover, and apply minimal force. Disarmament _only_," Optimus orders the Bots that were currently with him. "Sounds like these humans are giving a bit more trouble than expected," I said with narrowed optics. "Optimus, prepare to initiate phase two, five miles ahead to the south, you'll reach the rendezvous point," Ratchet says. I continue to grow more anxious. The humans they were dealing with now were a group called "MECH". And I have a feeling that they will cause more problems for us in the feeling. But this, was just a hunch.

:

"Alright, they got the D.N.G-ey on the train!" I said with a smile. "Why do you always pronounce it wrong? It's "D.N.G.S", are you doing this on purpose?" Miko asked. "I don't really give a slag on what it's called," I chuckled. The computer starts to beep, giving my attention to it. "Decepticons!"

"Optimus, you have company," Ratchet warns. The Autobots were forced to come out from hiding to fight the Decepticons, also showing MECH who they really are. Also, they know where the D.N.G.S went off to now. This is not good at all.

"Optimus is down!" Miko says. "And MECH's going to snatch the D.N.G.S!" Jack adds, "We need to think of something quick!" "We have to find some way to get to the D.N.G.S before they do. But how?" I asked. "How about we bridge there? Making a fancy appearance, human to human combat?" Miko asks in excited. "_Absolutely not_," Ratchet booms. "Yeah, that would be suicide," Jack rolls his eyes. "Then how do you suggest we stop them?" I asked.

"Yeah, this is like, The United States of _Meltdown!_ Lives are at stake here!" Miko shouts. "Yes, _yours!_ You not only want me to bridge you into a confined space, but one traveling at ninety miles an hour! I can't even count the ways that could go wrong. Mass displacement trauma, twisted limbs, metal burn!" Ratchet shouts. I blinked at him, not saying anything along with the humans.

"...Okay, maybe not the last one..regardless! It is nearly impossible to fix ground bridge coordinates on something moving!" Ratchet says. "Would it help if we had access to the train's coordinates?" Raf asked as he began to type on his laptop. The computer beeps, having it follow the train with a yellow dot. "Well..." Ratchet thinks for a moment. "It's worth a try Ratchet. I'll go along with them as help," I say. Ratchet used the trains coordinates to the train, "If you're going along, I suggest going in your human mode. To remain in caution,"

"And, it'll be a tight fit," I add, transforming into human mode, "Come on!"

:

We managed to get inside a train cart the D.N.G.S was in. Luckily, none of the MECH was here yet. Only, to find one of Fowler's allies unconscious on the floor. "Okay, What happened?" I make a face at the ally. "Who cares? We got here, didn't we?" Miko said with a smile. "Do you hear that, Raf?" Jack asks through his cell. "Loud and clear, Jack. The cell phone com-link patch works," Raf says through the phone.

Jack and Miko go to the left side of the cart to open it. "Careful," I warned. Once they both open it up, they looked outside. Jack quickly brings his cell to his ear, "Raf, MECH's about to land on top of the cart we're in,"

"In about twenty seconds, you're going to come to a fork. Brace yourselves," Raf says. Just as Raf said, the train starts to move onto a different set of tracks. I leaned myself against the cart wall so I wouldn't fall out. "Oh no," Jack breathed out, "That didn't do us much, they're still going to land,"

I gasped once I hear sparks from on top of the roof of the cart. The sparks were slowly forming into a square shape. Miko grabs for an axe behind her as Jack grabbed a fire extinguisher. "What's _that_ going to do?" I say to Jack. I thought about it, you can smash people on the head with those, too, "Never mind," I bare my fists, giving that bearing blades would blow my cover.

Once the sparks were gone, a hatch was made and fell onto the cart floor in front of us. Looking through the hatch were three men wearing the same suit and masks that covered their identity. I slowly got in front of Jack and Miko, glaring up at the men. "You wanna slice of this? Do ya!" Miko talks tough, nearly slicing me with the axe in her hand. My eyes grew wide and my mouth formed a hard line from the near impact. "What she said!" Jack points the extinguisher at the men.

But, the men turned around and head back to the helicopter instead of trying to get rid of us. _"Huh?"_ I made a questioning look. "Aha! We scared them off. Miko cheered. I furrow my eyebrows and jogged towards the cart opening, grabbing onto the door and leaned out, "There has to be a reason why they left," Jack and Miko peered from behind me. I focused my view, trying to see what was up. I blinked once I saw a missile descending down to the surface ways ahead of us, and smoke came after. _"AH!"_

"What is it?" Jack asked at my sudden scream. "They blew out the tracks!" I yelled. "What!" Miko shouts in panic. "Jack, you need to bridge us out, also the soldiers, MECH just blew out the tracks!" Jack says into his phone.

"We've lost access to the train data. I can't bridge you back without coordinates," Ratchet's voice yells through the phone. Jack and Miko blinked in surprise as Jack puts his phone away. "We need to find a way to get out fast! If the train collides with any possible bump MECH caused by blowing off the tracks, the D.N.G.S will explode, and it's game over for us!" I say in concern.

"Maybe we should jump," Miko suggest. "At ninety miles an hour, are you crazy?" Jack says. "It's the impact, or the meltdown, take your pick," Miko makes a face. Jack lets out a groan, "What were we thinking? Volunteering for this..." "Next time, you need to do a bit better about _talking_ us out of these situations," Miko rolls her eyes. "Next time..." Jack sighs, as if there wont be a next time.

"We can buy ourselves some time when we're in the back of the train, right?" Miko shrugs. "Miko...at least we're all in this together," Jack says, looking at Miko and I. _"Ugh..."_ I sighed. Miko grabs Jack's phone and speaks into it, "Raf, this is important...! Make sure Bulkhead gets my guitar..." "This, has to be the worst way to die! Even for _me_, a _robot_...!" I sighed, facing what is going to come, "It's been a really good time with you all...If one of you have anything to use as blindfolds, it's good to use them now,"

A familiar red and blue semi zooms past the cart, making my mouth go agape. "You were saying?" Jack smirks at me. "That we should all go get cupcakes after this... Seriously, both of you do not speak of this to anyone," I blushed. All three of us looked outside of the cart to see Optimus transform into his robot form and sprints to the front of the train, latching on and pulls to stop the train.

The force sends me rolling to the back of the cart, slamming on the wall, stopping in a weird position. "Slag..." I moaned, seeing everything upside down in my view. I struggle against the force to roll over and stand back up, feeling woozy. When the force starts to fade, I walk back up to where Jack and Miko were. I lighten up from the feeling of the train coming to a halt. Optimus makes his was towards us. "Woo!" I cheered, then held my head with a groan, still feeling dizzy.

I looked up into the sky from the sound of a helicopter. MECH's helicopter. I narrowed my eyes up at it, watching as it flew away. _I wonder what we're going to do, now that unfriendly humans know of our existence..._

_:  
><em>


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey, where's Miko?" Raf asked. "I think she got detention. What are the odds?" I chuckle while rolling my optics, "I'm so glad that this was my final day for school, I can't believe how _boring_ it is, sitting on plastic chairs for hours makes my skidplate soar,"

I turned my attention to Bulkhead once he drives into the room with Miko jumping out, "Ugh, you sound like my parents!" Bulkhead transforms into his robot mode, "Aren't they Japanese?"

"They speak a different language, but you both _say_ the same things," Miko said. "It's because we want the best for you, and that means making sure you go to school, not jail," Bulkhead says. "Uh oh, what d'you do?" Jack smirks at Miko. I let out a small laugh. Bulkhead kneels down in front of Miko, "Look, before I became a warrior, I was a laborer, construction. I can build stuff, I can break stuff, and that's _it_,"

"I love breaking stuff! I wanna be just like you, Bulk," Miko smiled. "I think that's not what he was trying to say..." I raised an optic ridge. "Why would you want to be like me, when you could be a medic like Ratchet?" Bulkhead asked. "I'm detecting a fresh Energon pulse, from the nation called 'Greece'," Ratchet says, "Quite a historic city, I believe,"

"Ancient Greece huh? Oh field trip," Bulkhead looks down at Miko. "Good idea, Bulkhead," I said with a nod. After Bulkhead and Miko had left through the bridge, I sat down and took out one of the clear Oronian Energon cases that I've been saving up. I stared at it before breaking the case into pieces and forming another cube with them. "You're making another one?" Jack comes up next to me.

"What else is there to do? Besides, I need one so that I can-," I looked up at Ratchet, who was currently not paying any attention to us. I leaned down and whispered to Jack, "-participate in races," "Aren't you guys suppose to keep a low profile?" Jack asked. "Yeah, I know," I sighed, "But..._what is there to do?_ Actually, though..racing is fun,"

"I've been meaning to ask you. I've noticed how you can't transform into any vehicle, why?" Jack asked. "Well...it's kind of complicated, you see, I actually _can_ transform into a vehicle. But, if I scan any data of a vehicle, I loose the ability to transform into a human. And, if I wanted to transform back into a human, I'd have to..." I bit my lip, "Well, I wont get into detail. So, I'm choosing to just keep my ability to transform into a human. Get all of that?" Jack nods.

I snap my head up from the bridge opening again, seeing Bulkhead and Miko, "Whoa, that was fast," "We've discovered an Energon Harvester that was painted on the ruins we were at," Bulkhead said. I furrowed my optic ridges, confused.

:

"It is indeed an Energon Harvester," Optimus says as he looked at the picture Miko took with her cell phone, "A powerful tool created by the ancients. To remove raw Energon from any source,"

"Greek gods knew Autobots?" Raf asked. I shrugged my shoulders, as I am not a Cybertronian myself to know any history of Cybertron. "No. The ancients often used the art of a given era to conceal messages," Optimus answered, "This was likely a sign post to indicate a Harvester's location, hidden somewhere on this planet," _So, humans didn't make the picture?_

"Optimus, if the Harvester can remove Energon from anything, and, you all have Energon pumping inside you..." Jack says. "It can be a dangerous weapon to us," I bit my lip. "In the hands of Decepticons, it is likely," Optimus says. "See, you were a genius about taking down that painting!" Miko says to Bulkhead. "Miko's not wrong. How can the 'Cons find the Harvester without the fresco?" Arcee smiled. "With high speed internet?" Raf types into his laptop," If you do an image search on Greek gods and golden orb, this pops up. It's in a museum," Raf shows us the picture of a large Greek statue of a man holding a gold circular shape in his hand.

_"Whoa...[Nice one...]"_ I hissed out. "That the real deal?" Arcee looks up at Optimus. "Contact Agent Fowler," Optimus says after studying the picture. "Alright, bridge trip," I smiled.

:

"You have reached special agent: William Fowler. I'm currently on an intensive training retreat, and I wont be available until Tuesday," Fowler's voice plays on a recording. "Are you _kidding_ me? Probably lousing about on vacation if you ask me," I scoffed. "Without Agent Fowler's direct aid, we'll have to confiscate the Harvester on our own," Optimus says.

"Sounds like a good plan..." I say with slight sarcasm. "Whoa, whoa, _'confiscate'?_ As in steal museum property?" Jack asks. "That sounds... illegal," Raf says. "I do not wish to break human law, but once the Decepticons learn of the Harvester's location, they will not hesitate to obtain it by any means necessary. We must act covertly," Optimus says.

"Uh, Optimus, covertly and giant robots really don't go together. Museums are public, they have guards and security cameras," Jack says. "That's why we'll sneak inside till it closes, then we'll snatch it up," I say with a smirk. "We're also not a government secret," Miko adds. "I'm not sure if that's wise..." Bulkhead says. "It may be our best option, Bulkhead. The longer we debate, the more time we let the Decepticons have," Optimus says.

:

"Autobots, confirm position," Optimus' voice says.

"Westward shuttle," Arcee reports.

_'East side,'_ Bumblebee beeps.

"South side covered," Bulkhead reports.

"Maintain your guard. Ariona, Jack, Miko, Rafael, I will have a clear view of you. Once you've secured the Harvester, I will contact Ratchet to bridge you back to base," Optimus says. "Got it," I respond.

"Now, sense you'll bypass normal entry, you wont sound off any alarms," Ratchet opens the bridge, "But, take care to avoid any security guards," "Rodger that, doc-bot," Miko gives Ratchet the thumbs up. We use the vehicle we were on to drive inside the bridge, winding up inside the museum. Just as Ratchet had said, no alarms were sound off. "Awesome dinosaur," I grinned at the skeletal system of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, "Why does it feel like it's deja vu?"

"Stay focused," Jack tells me. "Bingo, up there," Miko pats my shoulder and points up at the Harvester in the statue's hand. I looked over at Optimus, seeing his headlights blinking, signaling us that it was clear to go. Jack presses a button and raises us up to where the security camera was. Miko takes a picture of the statue with the Harvester and places it in front of the camera, making it look like there was nothing going on. Clever.

Miko nods at Jack. He starts to drive slowly towards the Harvester. "Get ready to grab it," He whispers. I nod. Once we were close, I jumped up and catch the statue's hand and pulled myself up on it. I help Raf up onto the other side of the Harvester. I grab hold of it and with the help of Jack and Raf, start to slowly push it onto the vehicle. I gasped once I hear a faint crack on glass.

We all turn our attention to the museum's entrance, seeing Optimus in robot mode holding a missile in his hands. _"Huh! [What the!]_ I gasped, seeing a bot I've never met before, holding a Energon prod that was pointing at Optimus. The bot uses it to eletricute him, causing Optimus to fall forward. The bot electrocutes him some more.

_"Ah! [Hey!]_ I narrowed my eye in anger. "It's 'Cons!" Raf said. "They got Optimus!"

I start to stand up, but then realized that I was on a narrow part of the hand. I let out a growl. Off in the distance, another truck drives towards the museum. _Our back up?_ Bumblebee zooms out from the right towards the truck, engaging it. I make a confused expression. The truck launches a misile towards Bumblebee, hitting him. The yellow bot quickly transforms and tumbles over from the impact. Arcee engages the truck, only to get blasted at like Bumblebee. Bulkhead drops in front of the museum and charges at the vehicle, which then transformed into another unknown bot.

The bot punches Bulkhead, sending him towards the other bot and knocks him over with him. Both of them crashed into the museum and the alarm sounds off. "Move!" I shout, using all of my weight to push the Harvester into the vehicle the humans were using. I grabbed Raf and jumped in with Miko and Jack. Jack lowers us down and drives to the back of the museum. Miko jumps off and runs ahead of us to open the back garage doors. While doing so, Miko was captured by a guard and thrown into the security camera room.

"Slag..." I cursed. "This isn't good," Jack shakes his head. Outside of the doors, a pair of metallic legs walked up. "Arcee!" Jack ran towards the door opening with Raf and I following behind. The bot kneels down, and raises the door up more. The bot wasn't Arcee.

"Soundwave!" I quickly bare my blades. Soundwave uses one of his tentacles to try to snatch the Harvester from us. I grab at it and stabbed the tentacle with one of my blades. The tentacle goes frantic and rips itself from my blade. The claw-like end grabs my neck, pulling me towards Soundwave. I yelled as I used one of my blades to slice at Soundwave's screen-like face. Soundwave looks at me as if he was glaring and uses the tentacle to throw me across the pavement behind him.

_"Ahh!"_ I screamed before colliding onto the pavement with my back, my blades screeching against it and making dents. I disarm my blades before using my elbows to push myself up with a groan, watching Soundwave transform into a jet and flies away with the Harvester. "Slag!" I yelled, pounding my fist onto the pavement. I get up and meet up with Jack and Raf to find the Autobots in front of the museum.

"The 'Cons have the Harvester!" Jack shouts. "And security has Miko!" Raf adds. "What? I'm going in after her," Bulkhead says. "Bulkhead," Optimus' arm was held in front of Bulkhead to hold him back, "Miko may be detained, but she is safe from harm,"

"Best if we get the Harvester back before Starscream gets the chance to try it out..." I say.

:

"In all likely hood, Starscream would use the Harvester to gather much Energon as soon as possible, from the planet's otherwise unmineable deposits. Approach with extreme caution. Starscream will not hesitate to use the Harvester on any one of us," Optimus opens the ground bridge, "Bulkhead, it is best if you remain here,"

"So I could bust Miko out?" Bulkhead asked. "To help Ratchet," Optimus says, "You may be Miko's guardian, but she requires _human_ assistance. Agent Fowler remains our best option," Optimus transforms and drives away through the bridge opening.

Raf tries to contact Fowler, but the same recording played from when we first tried to contact him. "Still no answer," Raf frowned. "Probably lounging around some poolside cavana," Bulkhead slams his fist down on a crate in anger, accidentally smashing something. "Bulkhead, I needed that!" Ratchet yells. "We could free Miko if we just get the Harvester back to the museum!" Bulkhead says.

"So that the Decepticons can steal it all over again?" Ratchet asked. Bulkhead was taken aback, "I'm so dumb...!" "We can always _make a replica_ of the Harvester," I said. "That's what I was doing," Ratchet holds up a unfinished golden orb, "The construction would be going a lot faster if Bulkhead hadn't just mangled my frame wielder!"

"We're already trespassers and thieves, why not add forgery to the list?" Jack says in sarcasm. Bulkhead groaned, "I wished I've never taken Miko to the-" Bulkhead blinks, "The painting of the Harvester isn't the only thing we found at those ruins!"

"I'm sorry?" Ratchet says. "Starscream's not dumb, no matter what tool he has, he's going to take the Energon the easy way," Bulkhead says, "Ratchet, bridge me back to those ruins, I'm going to take the Harvester out of Starscream's hands," Ratchet nods, putting in the coordinates. "I'll go with," I say to Bulkhead, "High chances that Starscream wont be alone, and you'll need someone to watch your back just in case," I transform into my robot mode.

"Come on," Bulkhead tells me before running into the bridge. I quickly follow behind.

:

"There they are," I whispered, looking over a large boulder seeing a group of Vehicons and a couple of other Decepticons, including Starscream, "You're right, this is an easy way for him," Bulkhead tilts his head to a certain direction, and starts to walk towards it. I follow behind, trying not to make any noise. Bulkhead slides down a small cliff and starts to get closer to Starscream. I slide down and follow beside him. "L-Look where you're going!" I hissed, before Bulkhead steps onto a pot, making a loud noise.

The two Decepticons from before turned towards us. One of them being a slim red one and one being a bulky blue one. _"Ah, Bulkhead...[Bulkhead, you buffoon...]"_ I face palmed myself. "Scrap..." Bulkhead groaned.

"Back for seconds?" The red Decepticon asked, taking out his Energon prod. The blue Decepticon forms his right hand into a large hammer. Then, they charged at us. I bare my blades, ready to fight. I looked up at Bulkhead, "Don't just stand there!" "Get down!" Bulkhead shouts.

"What?" I was pulled down by Bulkhead as he ducks the two Decepticon's attacks, making the blue one hit the red one. "S-Smart move," I said with a nervous laugh. Bulkhead smirks as he uses the Energon prod that was dropped to electrocute the blue Decepticon. The Decepticon falls back, the prod stuck onto him. A blue beam hits Bulkhead. He grunts as light blue mist was starting to get sucked out of him. I followed the blue beam and see Starscream pointing the Harvester at Bulkhead. He was sucking the Energon out of him!

_"Ah!"_ I run at a fast pace towards Starscream and jumped into the air, coming down and kicking him in the face. "Gah!" Starscream stumbled back and lost grip on the Harvester. I quickly grab the Harvester and try to figure out how to deactivate it. "Ariona," I turn to Bulkhead, "Throw it to me!" I do as I was told and tossed the Harvester to Bulkhead. He crushes the Harvester in his hands enough to make it stop working. then, he quickly throws the Harvester into the sky. The Harvester explodes, sending a disk of Energon into the air around it.

"Nice lob," I smiled at Bulkhead. I gasp as he falls backwards onto the ground, "Bulkhead!" I ran towards him, "Come on, get up, we gotta go!" I turn around when I hear the sound of electricity. The red Decepticon smirks as he uses the Energon prod to electrocute me in my neck. I let out a scream, feeling electric pulses run through my body in pain. The prod separates my body, and there were sounds of beeping coming from the gem on my chest.

My feet gave away as I fell down to the ground from low energy. My optics were nearly about to shut as I struggle to stay awake. I looked up at the red Decepticon, who was now standing over me. "They're certainly gluttons for punishment," He says with a smirk, looming over me. I stare up at him, soon into his dark red optics. Without thinking of my actions, my mouth slowly forms into a wide smile, creating a painful, but joyful expression.

The red Decepticon blinks at me in confusion. I looked over at the direction where a bridge was being opened, slightly lifting up my head. Lasers flew above my head. The Decepticons retreated from the battle field. The Autobots walked up to us. "Hey..." Bulkhead says. I let out a sigh, looking at the gem on my chest, which was still blinking and beeping at me to re-fuel on Oronian Energon.

:

"That's the last of your supply. What did you do to get your energy so low?" Ratchet asked as he hands a Oronian Energon crystal to me. "Not much really..." I say weakly, placing the crystal on top of the gem and let the gem soak up the crystal's energy. After I was done re-fueling, I stored the empty crystal case into my crate, "I've learned that I should stay away from Energon prods...for some reason," I say. "The reason might be because of your human DNA. Energon prods can affect you Oronians a lot more it does to us," Ratchet says. "I'll remember that, of course," I said with a nervous laugh.

I let out a sigh, _But what I don't get, is why I smiled at that Decepticon... A glitch?_

:


	11. Chapter 11

"Here to race again?" The teenage boy, Fast Willy asked with a scoff once I pulled up my Porsche nest to his car. I removed the icepix pop from my mouth, "Something wrong with a girl racing?" Fast Willy chuckled, "No. It makes it more entertaining," "Tch," I put the pop back inside my mouth. I look at the side mirror on my left, seeing a red Aston Martin DBS pull up right next to my car. I cocked an eyebrow from the sight of it. Something's weird about it.

"Hey, are you listening!" Fast Willy's voice makes me snap my head to look at him. "What...?" I asked, pulling out the pop again. "What's with the fancy car on your left? Is the person European or something?" "Pssh, I don't know, why don't you ask the driver?" I pulled the side of my mouth up a bit. "Well, it's a bit," Fast Willy flings a metal ball, passing through my window, across my face, out of the other window and hits the car's door, making a dent with a scratch on it.

I can feel strange energy come from the car, but shrugged it off and looked at Fast Willy again, finishing up the rest of my pop and pulling out the stick, throwing it like a dart and hitting his nose, "Was that a really necessary thing to do...?" Fast Willy makes a face at me, "You're going down, snowflake, you and your dino mask," He points at my favorite dinosaur mask that propped in the middle of the dashboard. "I'd like to see you try," I smirked. Without pressing any buttons, I raised the passenger window, covering my face from Fast Willy due to the window's black tint.

"You ready for this, #2?" I asked. _"Yes sir!"_ Swiftcut #2 whispered to me with excitement through the radio. I blinked, noticing inside of the car start to emit a blue glow. I looked on my chest, noticing that the gem was glowing a lot more brighter than usual and it was glowing through my shirt. "Slag," I muttered, looking over to the red car, hoping that whoever was driving it doesn't notice anything. But, I could feel something staring at me. I bit my lip and raise up my window. _What's going on?_

I looked up to see the flag man in front of us raise the flash light he was holding. I quickly turn my hand into a key and put it inside the key ignition near the steering wheel, turning it. Swiftcut #2 bursts into energy, ready to race. Once the flashlight was turned on, Swiftcut #2 took off at full speed.

Driving through the three other cars, I wind up next to Fast Willy once again. He put his engine into high gear and so does Swiftcut #2. I glance at the review mirror and see the red car from before speeding up behind us. And at an incredibly fast speed at that. The car crashes into Fast Willy's car bumper. I blinked in surprise, then face the car radio, "Step on it, #2!" Swiftcut #2's engines roar louder and speed up away from the two cars. I turned around in my seat to see the red car push Fast Willy off the rode and over the edge.

_"Ah!"_ I gasped, "That's no ordinary driver!" _"What do we do?"_ Swiftcut #2 asks. "We need to get back to base, and fast!" I see the red car again in my review mirror, coming after us. I growled and pushed more energy out of myself into Swiftcut #2 to make her go faster. But, it wasn't enough. The car was now right next to us and crashes against Swiftcut #2. I yelped as I was forced to the left a bit. Swiftcut #2 nearly lost course and regained herself. Another crash, and Swiftcut #2 was sent flying off the rode and edge. I gasp as I quickly remove my hand from the ignition. I put my arms in front of me, preparing for impact as Swiftcut #2 nose dived into the ground below.

I kicked my door open and rolled out of Swiftcut #2, forced to transform into my robot mode. I glanced over at Swiftcut #2, sensing no life in her as the teared down Porsche disappear, leaving a small orb of spark let. I prepared for what was coming. The spark zoomed through the air and enters my chest. I gasped and slammed onto my back, wincing and yelping in pain as the spark piece synchronized with the rest of my spark. I shut my optics tight. The pain was even more greater than last time, and it almost made me break down into tearing up.

I flinched, hearing two objects land on the ground on my sides. I manage to open one optic, clenching my teeth together. I blinked, opening both of my optics into seeing the red Decepticon. "Y-You-!" I sucked on my teeth from the pain. "Deja vu, isn't it?" The Decepticon says as he kneels down with a smirk. I form a hard line as I furrowed my optic ridges. The Decepticon examines my figure and my race's insignia on my right shoulder pad.

"Hmm, an Oronian? Never seen one before..." The Decepticon touches the gem on my chest. I flinch from the pain caused by the touch. The Decepticon chuckled from the reaction. "By the way, _"Snowflake"_, the name's Knock Out, if you already haven't known," The 'Con smirks, "Care to tell me yours?"

I glared up at him from the nickname, remaining silent. Knock Out starts to stroke the gem again, sending more pain. "Tch!" I clenched my teeth, "_Fine-!_...It's Ariona. Like you _honestly_ care..." I narrowed my optics, "Come to think of it, why didn't you just shoot me down to scrap in the beginning?"

"...Don't know. Maybe because of the design of your species is _interesting_," Knock Out replied, still smirking. I had to get out of this somehow. I bit my lip, thinking. I clicked, closing my optics, then opened them again, making the same expression from the last time I've encountered with this Decepticon. Knock Out blinked his optics again. "What?" He says with slight annoyance. _"Distraction,"_ I muttered, before swiftly pulling up my legs to my chest, aiming my feet at Knock Out, then thrusting them into his face.

"Gah!" Knock Out was forced backwards off of me. I rolled onto my stomach and get up from the ground, jumping up to let my blade skates form from under my feet and zoomed off away from the Decepticon, making twists and turns back to base.

:

"Ariona, can you _please_ keep it down?" Ratchet asked while working on another project. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's up with this thing," I tapped my finger on the bright gem, which emitted a sound of beeping every ten nanokliks. "You need to refuel already?" Bulkhead asked. "If I needed to, then I'll scrapped. But I'm not tired at all. I've never experienced this before," I answer. Bumblebee walks up to me and leans forward, looking at the bright gem intentionally. He raised a hand to poke at it, but I immediately shield with it with my hand and took a step back with wide optics.

_'Sorry,'_ Bumblebee beeps. "Ariona, you seem to be jittery a lot today. Did something happened while you were out?" Bulkhead asked, raising an optic ridge. "Um," I turned to look at Ratchet, then pushed the two Autobots into another room.

"Okay, you know how I go out to race, right?" I asked. "Yeah..." Bulkhead crossed his arms, expecting that I did something bad. "Well," I thought about it for a moment, "There was an accident, and I crashed with #2 over the edge... I guess that's why," I rubbed my arm. "#2 got slagged _again?_" Bulkhead gives me a look, "You couldn't have crashed by yourself. Who did it?"

"Well...um..." I start to feel embarrassed for some reason, "A Decepticon," I answer. Bumblebee beeped in surprise. "But, I'm alright! I kicked the smack in the face," I grinned. "Why would a Decepticon be racing?" Bulkhead asked. "Beats me," I rolled my optics. "So, if you did crash, does that mean you lost your mask, too?" Bulkhead asked. I clicked, realizing with wide optics. Without saying anything, I face palmed myself.

:

"Hey, Ariona, can I borrow #2?" Jack asked. "She got scrapped," I replied, not taking my eyes off the t.v. "Okay...Raf, is it possible for me to borrow Bumblebee for an hour?" Jack looks at the boy. "Jack, you know that racing is against the rules. What if Optimus found out?" Raf asked. Jack and Bumblebee sighed at the same time.

"But Raf, he's gotta get the girl!" Miko says. Raf cocks an eyebrow. "And beat the bully," Miko pushes. "Bully?" I blinked. "Well..." Raf was unsure. "Come on, Raf, just this once?" Jack begged. "...Alright," Raf agrees.

:

I stood next to Bulkhead, watching Miko and Raf play video games. What? it's not like I really had anything else so do. If I still had my dinosaur mask, I would be going around while wearing it and bother Ratchet. "Anyone seen Jack?" Arcee asked as she walked up next to me. Miko and Raf flinched from the question and I looked side to side without moving my head.

"...Not sense...we last saw him," Miko looks up at Arcee with a smile. I shook my head. _Girl, you just blew it_. "They're racing, aren't they?" Arcee pulled her optic ridges together and narrowed her optics. "Just this once," Raf said with a nervous voice. "Did you know about this...?" Arcee says with a firm voice as she looks at Bulkhead and I. "No!...maybe...a little," Bulkhead says. I rolled my optics with a sigh, "Man, busted within minutes,"

Arcee lets out an annoyed sigh. _'Hey, anyone there? Jack and I are being chased by Knock Out, I'm going to be needing some back up,'_ Bumblebee beeps in worry. "What?" Arcee says. "Him again?" I said in surprise. "_Again?_" Arcee looks at me with a raised optic ridge. "I-I'll explain later," I said with a nervous look.

"Bumblebee, do not engage. You're first priority is to keep Jack safe!" Arcee orders, then mumbles, "Until I get my hands on him..." I widen my optics from what she had said. _I never want to get on her bad side. Ever._

"Let's go get them," Arcee said, transforming into her vehicle mode. Bulkhead does the same thing and opens his car door next to me, "Get in," I quickly transform into my human mode and jumped in, closing the door and we drove out of the base.

:

"We're here," Bulkhead tells me. "Huh, what?" I wake up from my nap, sucking up drool. Bulkhead comes to a stop and I slam my head against the steering wheel, making a honk, "Hello?" Bulkhead opens the car door and I fall out. Bulkhead and Arcee transform into their robot modes. Bumblebee transforms from his vehicle mode as well.

"Jack, we need to have a little chat," Arcee said, putting her hands on her hips. "Later Arcee, Vince just got snatched by that slick, sports car 'Con," Jack says. "Who's Vince...?" I asked with a yawn. "What would Knock Out want with a random human?" Arcee asked. "He probably mistook him as Bumblebee's human friend. I'm not even Bumblebee's human friend, I don't know, it doesn't matter, Vince is in trouble!" Jack says.

"Can you repeat that...?" I asked with a tired voice. "Oh well, tough break for Vince," Bulkhead slams his finger on my back to wake me up more. I clicked, shaking my head while blinking. "Bulkhead!" Jack yells. "...What? I hear the guys a jerk," Bulkhead says. "Well, that's true, but, he's innocent. He doesn't deserve to be crushed by 'Cons," Jack says.

Arcee then transforms back into her vehicle mode, "Hop on," She tells Jack. Jack did as he was told and climbed onto Arcee. Bulkhead and Bumblebee transformed into their vehicle modes. Bumblebee drives next to me, nudging me with his car door. I sighed and climbed inside and he closes the door. All of us then went after Knock Out.

:

As we drove up the street, Knock Out drove across us from our left. We followed him towards a public storage area, a dead end. "Be on your guard, you three," Arcee tells us, "It could be a trap," "Likely," I say. "Remember, no shooting," Jack warns us. Bulkhead and Bumblebee speed ahead of Arcee and drive up to a fence, which was melted open by a laser. I jump out of Bumblebee and let the two Autobots transform before I do. I bare out my blades and followed behind them, looking around in caution.

Suddenly, a set of headlights were turned on and I quickly shield my optics from the brightness. Behind me on my right, there was a loud explosion and I turn my attention to it, putting my blades up in front of me. From the dust, came charging the blue Decepticon from before, raising up his hammer. We all jump out of the was before the Decepticon smashes the hammer onto the pavement where we were standing.

He goes after Bumblebee and punches him away. I front flipped and land behind him, striking his back. He spins around and punches me in the stomach, sending me back a few feet. I gasped from getting the wind knocked from me and tumbled backwards. I catch myself and swing my legs back to stand upright again. Bulkhead was pushed away after sharing punches with the Decepticon. Bumblebee shoots lasers at the Decepticon from behind. The blue Decepticon charges at him, swinging and misses.

I have a go at the Decepticon again and ran towards him, forming a gun with my blades. The Decepticon turns around enough for me to smack him on the face with my gun. He yells as he swings his hammer at me at full force. I jump back and shoot at him. He charges and I quickly flip over him. He instead goes after Bumblebee and grabs his left arm, lifting him up.

Bumblebee points his right arm, which had the cannon, and shoots the Decepticon on his chest. He was freed and charges at the Decepticon and punches him before back flipping, kicking the Decepticon by the chin. The Decepticon tumbles back into Bulkhead and gets punched on the back by him, causing him to tumble forward. I take my chance and blast at the 'Con.

The Decepticon growls and starts to charge at me, but was stopped by Bumblebee. The 'Con raises both of his arms and swings them down. Bumblebee dodges the attack, then another. The Decepticon get's Bumblebee this time, sending him back a couple of feet before crashing back on the pavement on his stomach. The Decepticon walks towards Bumblebee, about to finish him off. I clenched my teeth and quickly jump in front of him, separating my blades and slice him at the chest.

The Decepticon grabs me, holding my arms down onto my sides. I react quickly and thrust my head forward, slamming my forehead against his. The Decepticon lets go of me and steps back, dazed. "Duck!" I hear Bulkhead say. I immediately crouch down and watched as Bulkhead swings a lamp post at the Decepticon, hitting him and sends him flying into one of the public storage buildings. "Alright, Bulk, home run!" I cheered. "Let's hurry and go get Knock Out," Bulkhead says, transforming into his vehicle mode and zooms next to me. I transform into human mode and hopped in. Bulkhead drives off at high speed with Bumblebee following behind in his vehicle mode. While catching up with Arcee, we stopped for Jack and he climbs inside Bumblebee.

:

By the time we caught up with Arcee, Optimus was standing with a unconscious human boy in his hand. I watched as Knock Out transformed into his vehicle mode and retreats. I jump out of Bulkhead and transform into my robot mode, along with Arcee and Bulkhead. We all walked up towards Optimus while Bumblebee drove up. Jack leans his head out of the window, "Optimus," He sighed, "This was my fault,"

"we must get this boy to safety immediately," Optimus says with a firm voice as he narrows his optics, "Explanations can come later...from all of you," I felt myself shrink in disappointment once he had said that.

:

_'Wow, you're taking this pretty hard...'_ Bumblebee beeps as he walked up next to me. I was sitting outside of the base in the night, knees against my chest, head buried in knees and hands laying on the sides. "Yeah...he found out about me racing..." I muttered into my knees, mentioning how Optimus found out about me racing in secret and how he wasn't happy about it at all. Bumblebee kneels next to me and pats my back, _'You knew he was going to find out sooner or later,'_

"Yeah yeah..." I sighed, turning my head to meet optics with Bumblebee, "But, I guess it was worth it..." _'That doesn't sound like you. Usually, you would be upset for days if you were scolded,'_ "Honestly, I was expecting for it to happen, and I was prepared for it," I lift up my head to look up at the night sky.

_'Let's get back inside,' _Bumblebee beeps as he pats my back again and stands up. "Alright," I sighed as I stood up and followed Bumblebee back inside the base.

:


	12. Chapter 12

I let out a sigh, stretching out my arms as I continued to walk inside of the canyon near Jasper. Currently, Arcee and Jack were out at the northern area of the United States, checking out a mysterious object that crashed onto Earth. Other than that, there were no other things to do, which of course, caused me to get bored and go out on a stroll outside of the base.

"Man, why can't there be anything to do?" I sighed, loud enough for my voice to echo across the canyon walls. Just then, a laser blasts at the canyon wall near me, sending large rocks to fall. "Ah!" I cursed in my Oronian language and dived out of the way before I was crushed by the rocks. I coughed from the dust and got up, turning to see the blue Decepticon. "Huh?" I blinked. "I'll take it that you're quite bored, aren't you _"Snowflake"_?" Knock Out says, coming out from behind the Decepticon.

"You again? What do you want!" I asked, a tint of annoyance. "Oh, nothing else besides giving you a bit of challenge. I take it that you've already met my partner, Breakdown?" Knock Out tilts his head a bit to point out the blue Decepticon. "Of course..." I narrowed my optics, suspicious, "Why are you creeps here in the first place anyway? _Experimenting...?_"

"Non other than just driving around, going hunting... When you came on our sights, we planned on having a little bit of fun with you," Knock Out smirked, taking out his Energon prod while Breakdown's right hand formed into a cannon. _It's official. I have found my new, annoying archenemy..._

Breakdown shoots at me and I quickly turned my body, bending back slightly. Knock Out ran towards me and prepares to stab me with the prod. I quickly crouch down enough and push myself up towards him, landing my hands on his faceplate and my feet on his shoulders. I kick his shoulders and send myself high into the air, catching the canyon wall and kicked at it, flying onto the top of the other canyon wall. "So long, suckers!" I salute Knock Out and Breakdown off and ran towards the other end of the canyon.

I would have loved to kick some 'Con tailpipe, but I couldn't really handle to Decepticons, especially if they were much larger than I was. I slowed down to a stop and let out a sigh. The gem on my chest was now beeping at a rapid speed. _What the slag?_ I blinked, noticing a light blue spot on the ground. I step on it, gasping at how the spot was on my foot. I look above me into the sky and notice a metal like cylinder falling down. I quickly take a step back and the object lands at where the spot was.

The object was a cylinder-like shaped pod, about my height. I tilt my head before walking up to the pod and touching it. _"Ah-"_ I jumped back once the pod opens, relieving a yellow and silver... "O-Oronian?" My optics widen. The Oronian comes out of stasis lock, removing it's faceplate and it's optics flicker on with a color of teal. The optics flicker a couple of times before the Oronian steps out of the pod. The Oronian was a female, and a heavily armored one at that.

The Oronian focuses her sights on me, then gasps, _"Ariona!"_ She says in the Oronian language and immediately hugs me, spinning me around with her. "W-Wha!" "Oh, I'm so glad to see you! You're still the same cute bot I knew," The Oronian giggled. I clicked, confused. The Oronian lets me go, "Don't you remember me? It's Nikki," The Oronian points at herself. "N-Nikki?" I make a confused look.

"Oh, while I'm here, I should give you upgrades of Oronian technology when you were absent," Nikki touches my gem. I flinched, expecting pain. But, it never did came, instead, I felt a shock throughout my body. There was a quick flash of light, and my body felt a lot more different than before. My shoulder pads became slightly bigger and the lower part of my legs had another lair of armor, along with my feet having dark blue curved blades coming from the sides and pointing upward. But, the same dent on my stomach still remained.

"Hmm... Not much change except for an extra lair of armor and jets. What about your blades?" Nikki asked, looking up and down on my body. I bare out my blades, looking brand new with blue veins running through them. I put them together, forming a cannon instead of a gun. _Whoa._

Nikki nods in improvement, "There," She hugs me again, touching her forehead against mine and causes a spark of electricity. My optics flickered, surprised. "I'm so glad to see you," Nikki says again with a grin, leaning away from me. "W-Who are you?" I ask finally. Nikki blinks at me with a hurt expression. She slowly lets me go and stand back. She shakes her head and lets out a stiff laugh, "Opal was right, you were going to change during the war..."

I tilt my head, not understanding. "I hope you'll remember again. Until then..." Nikki looks up at me, narrowing her optics at me with a slight glare, "I'll let you continue in your war," She raised up her leg and kicks me. I gasp, feeling my dent slightly crack again as Nikki's kick sends me flying in the air. I yelled as I fall from the edge, crashing to the ground below and lost consciousness for a short while.

Once I've recovered, I could hear Ratchet's voice over the com-link, "Ariona, where are you? Get back to the base!" I let out a groan, "On my way," I turn off the com-link and looked up the canyon wall, seeing that Nikki was no longer there, along with the pod. I moaned, picking myself up from the ground and dusting the dirt off me. Fixing myself, I quickly make my way back to base, thinking about the events today. I also did say that I wanted something to happen. "Oh Ariona, you're such a loud mouth..." I mutter to myself in embarrassment.


	13. Chapter 13

"Optimus, you're not going to believe this," I turn my attention towards Ratchet, perking up, "I have pin pointed the Decepticon warship," "How did you get through their cloaking technology?" Optimus asked. "I didn't. I was experimenting variable frequency wave links when I stumbled upon it," Ratchet answered. "That's a surprise. They're not really looking out for themselves, aren't they?" I said with a smirk.

"Their ship must be experiencing an electro-magnetic breach," Ratchet said. "With Megatron gone, an with the element of surprise..." Arcee pounds a fist into her palm, meaning that this was a good chance to ambush the warship. "We could cause some _serious _damage," Bulkhead says. Images of the warship, Nemesis and an Autobot ship appeared on the monitor screen, "Also, on the same frequency, an Autobot emergency beacon," Ratchet says, questionable.

"The Decepticons can wait. There may be Autobots in need of help," Optimus says, "Ratchet, bring your medical kit," Once Optimus and Ratchet had left through the bridge, I turned to face everyone else.

"Don't you think that this is a bit strange?" I asked. "An emergency beacon?" Arcee cocks an optic ridge. "Yeah, that. Why would we be receiving a beacon now, when Ratchet was toying with some frequency waves? It would have been easy for us to receive the beacon, unless if it's one from a long time ago?" I raised an optic ridge.

"You're looking into it too much," Bulkhead says. Bumblebee beeps in agreement. "Well, I'm just saying," I crossed my arms. "Hey, why not play some games while we wait?" Jack asked. "What do you have in mind?" Miko asked. "...Race car game?" Jack shrugs. "I hate that game..." I muttered. Bumblebee laughed in beeps and pats my back. Suddenly, the space bridge opens again and I turned around, blinking with a click once I notice Ratchet helping Optimus walk. My optics widen once I notice a darkened shade around Optimus' right optic.

"W-What-?" I asked, continuing to blink in surprise and confusion as Ratchet walks by us and lays Optimus down on a berth. I follow everyone else who wanted to know what was going on. Ratchet activates a scanner and runs it over Optimus' right optic. "What is it?" Bulkhead asked.

"It's cybonic plague," Ratchet pulls the scanner away, "It's only contagious if contact is made with the infected Energon," "Sounds familiar to "bubonic plague"..." I muttered, worried. I've learned about this one during my days in human school, and those who had it did not live very long. "What was a plague doing on an Autobot ship?" Miko asked. "It's passengers were infected. The virus wiped out millions of Cybertronians during the war," Arcee explained.

"Cybonic plague was engineered in the Decepticon's biological warfare program. By Megatron himself," Ratchet narrows his optics. I lowered my head a bit. "You have a cure, don't you?" Raf asked. "No cure..." Optimus struggled to say. "Optimus, please. Save your strength," Ratchet says. "This doesn't make sense, there just has to be a cure," I said in concern. "That's right. What if by chance Megatron caught the virus himself?" Jack said.

"It's not like we can ask him, Jack," Bulkhead says, "He's pushing up lugnuts," "But, we may be able to access the Decepticon database. We still have the Decepticon warship's location," Ratchet said. "Bumblebee, come with," Arcee beacons Bumblebee to follow her into the bridge. "Arcee, quickly," Ratchet says in worry.

:

I continue to walk in circles in worry, glancing over at Optimus every time his berth came to view. "Ariona," Bulkhead stops me, "Calm down, okay?" I groaned at him before continuing to walk in circles. Due to dizziness, I accidentally bump into Ratchet. "Please, Ariona," Ratchet says in annoyance. "I'm sorry," I said with a frown, turning to look at Optimus, "I just can't help it but to see him like this," Optimus shakes his head a bit at me, as if telling me not to worry as much. I sighed and sat on a crate behind me, crossing my arms and legs.

Ratchet sighed at me, continuing his work. "Ratchet, I'm in," Arcee's voice says over the com-link.

"Ratchet...we're you..." Optimus starts to say. "Infected? No," Ratchet replies. Optimus let's out a groan in pain, causing me to scrunch my face up more in sadness. "If it's here, I don't see it," Arcee says in annoyance over the com-link. "Are you certain, Arcee?" Ratchet asked. "I've searched ever file, there's nothing," Arcee replied. "Well search again!" Ratchet yells, "Clearly you've missed something. "I scanned the _entire_ database!" Arcee says back. "Did you use a redundant quantum algorithm?" Ratchet asked.

"Don't tell me how to research. You think you're the only one who cares about Optimus?" Arcee asked in anger, "What is it?" Sounds like Arcee was talking to Bumblebee. "What's going on?" Ratchet asked. "...It's Megatron," Arcee said, "He's _alive!_"

"What!" I practically almost fell out of my sitting position from the shock. Everyone was shocked by the news as well. "That's not possible!" Ratchet says while grinding his dentals. "Well, I'm staring right at him," Arcee said, "Good news is: Megatron's not exactly staring back," _How?_

"He's critical, hooked up to life support. Time to finish this once and for all," Arcee says, meaning that she was getting ready to shoot. "Wait, don't!" Ratchet shouts. "One good reason, fast,"

"Megatron may be the only hope for Optimus' survival," Ratchet says. I looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" Arcee asked. "Does he display brain wave activity?" Ratchet asked. "...It's spiking hard, his sick mind still at work," Arcee replied. "Perfect! If a cure exists, Megatron may be the only one who knows it. You must enter his processor, and find it," Ratchet says.

"Like, performing inception?" I raised an optic ridge, "Sounds strange, but worth it,"

"Enter Megatron's processor? Ratchet, are you out of your fragging mind!" Arcee says. "The Decepticon laboratory should contain the equipment you need for a cortical psychic patch," Ratchet says. "No way, have you ever even _performed_ the procedure?" Arcee asked. "No," Ratchet replied, "But I _have_ throughly studied about it, invented by Decepticons outlawed by Autobots..."

"Can't we just haul Megatron through the ground bridge and have time to figure this out?" Arcee asked. "Time is one thing Optimus _does not have_, one of you must try this! I will **_not_** allow Optimus perish, knowing that Megatron out lived him!" Ratchet shouts. "Ratchet..." I muttered with a slight frown, raising my inner optic ridges in dolefulness.

"Ratchet, I will lay down my life for Optimus, anytime, anywhere. But, a mind-body split..." Arcee's voice trails off. _'I'll do it,'_ Bumblebee beeps. "You will?" Arcee asked. "But-," I blinked. "Are you sure, Bumblebee...?" Raf asked. "Bee's the best scout there is," Bulkhead said. I'd have to agree with him, even if I didn't like it one bit.

:

"Ratchet, we're ready," Arcee says, meaning by Bumblebee wired up with Megatron and ready to start to procedure. "Initiated cortical psychic patch," Ratchet orders, "Communications down-link: activated. This will allow us to see and hear everything Bumblebee does while in Megatron's mind," A video pops up, making me blink, "That's Kaon..a Decepticon-controlled city..!"

"Ratchet, Optimus' vitals," Bulkhead said after looking at the screen near Optimus. "I know..." Ratchet said in worry, "Hurry, Bumblebee. I know you're in unknown territory, but you must find your way around to find any files held in Megatron's mind,"

From on the screen displaying what Bumblebee's seeing, was that he was currently climbing a set of stairs. Once he reached the top step, Optimus stood in the center of the large platform. _'What?'_ Bumblebee ran towards him. "Bumblebee, that's not Optimus. But, a figment of Megatron's mind, it cannot see, or hear you," Ratchet reassures.

An echo of Megatron's laughter was heard, "Optimus Prime. Your Autobot armies are _defeated_. Bow before your new master," "I've forgotten how much his sentences sends the bad kind of shivers down my spinal cord," I said, anxious. "Never, Megatron. One shall stand, one shall fall," The Optimus figment said, turning around to face Megatron and activating it's sword. "So be it," Megatron's right arm turns into a blade-cannon and jumps down from the ledge to face the Optimus figment. Bumblebee quickly takes his chance to hide behind a pile of rocks and watched the events along with us.

The ran towards each other and both swing. The Optimus figment was sliced by Megatron and it turns into particles. I grit my dentals, glaring at the Megatron on the screen. The pile of rocks that Bumblebee was hiding behind suddenly forms into another Optimus figment, "Megatron, your treachery ends here," _Honestly, Megatron's dreamland is starting to annoy me._

Megatron raises his his cannon, getting ready to shoot at the figment. Bumblebee runs out of hiding to stand in front of the figment, ready to take on the shot. "Bumblebee..!" I blinked. The laser barely misses Bumblebee, hitting the figment behind him and it turns to particles. Bumblebee turns to look at Megatron again, who was walking up towards him.

"The Autobot scout. The punishment for trespassing in my domain, is _death!_" Megatron raises his blade. I gasped, my optics widen. He swings down his blade. But, nothing happens. Just like Megatron, I was surprised. "How can this be!" Megatron continues to deliver attacks, of course, nothing seemed to happen. "Megatron can't touch Bee?" Raf asked. "Because he's not apart of Megatron's mind, Bumblebee is immune to his physical attack," Ratchet says. I sighed in relief.

"You're not wearing any phase displacement armor," Megatron circles around Bumblebee, "You're able to follow my movement, so you're not a hologram! And I do not believe in spirits. So tell me, scout, _**what are you!**_"

"Megatron," Bumblebee turns to see a figment of Optimus, Bulkhead and himself. "Uh oh, special guest stars," Miko says. "His cover is completely blown," I shake my head. Bumblebee walks up and tries to get attention from himself, _'Hello?' _Megatron lets out a loud yell, starting to shoot at every figment and Bumblebee. All of the figments were gone. "You are real, they were _not!_" Megatron then lets out a chuckle, "A cortical psychic patch, how unexpected..."

"We've stirred Megatron from his oblivion. He's now becoming aware..." Ratchet says. "If this is my subconscious..." Megatron turns to Bumblebee, "What are you doing inside my head!"

Arcee's com-link kicks in, receiving my attention, "Knock Out, if you would be so kind to provide your _expert_ medical opinion to Soundwave, for the historical record," Starscream's voice said. "Simply put, unaided, Megatron in this deathless slumber, forever," Knock Out's voice says. "Our master would've not wanted to see himself this way. To stand by and let him remain captive in his own body, is not just..." Starscream said.

There was a pause. "Processor wave activity, not evidence of consciousness, but merely an endless dream from which Megatron may never wake," Knock Out said. "Soundwave...we must face reality. Megatron is lost to us," Starscream says, obviously in fake grief. "The only option, would be to show him mercy..." Knock Out says. "A simple throw of the switch," Starscream said. "Quick, painless, compassionate," Knock Out adds.

"You getting this, Ratchet?" Arcee asks. "If Megatron perishes, Bumblebee's mind will remain separated from his body, for good," Ratchet says. "We'll lose Bumblebee _and_ Optimus...!" Jack asks in slight panic. "Bee needs to hurry his tailpipe up..." I said in frustration, turning my attention to the down-link video.

"The only way you could have entered my mind, is through cortical psychic patch. But the question remains: _What happened to me...?_" Megatron hisses at Bumblebee. Bumblebee didn't answer, but only stared up at Megatron, who's optics widen a bit to push him to answer his question. Megatron's optics then widen more in surprise, "...The space bridge explosion... And yet if...you're in my head...I am not one with the AllSpark. So tell me, scout, do I still function...!"

"Bumblebee, we're out of time!" Ratchet yells. Bumblebee hesitates, thinking of what to say. After doing so, he starts to sound out a sentence in beeps. "..Cybonic plague? Someone else besides me is..unwell?" Megatron asks. Bumblebee nods. Megatron looks to the side, giving it a thought, then letting out a menacing laugh, "_Optimus_. Such **_irony!_** But after endless ages of battle, the mighty Optimus Prime, is felled by a simple virus from a distant past. And what makes you think that I would save the life of my oldest enemy...?"

_'...Because, I know what you want most,'_ Bumblebee beeps after a short pause. "Oh, and what is that, scout..?" Megatron asked, waiting to be amused. _'You want to destroy Optimus with your own hands,'_

Megatron laughs, "Do you not see! I can slay Optimus any time at will, whenever I desire!" _'But, if you let the plague destroy the real Optimus, you will never have the chance to do it yourself,'_ Bumblebee beeps back. "As much as I hate hearing him say that...that's actually smart..." I blinked my optics.

"After our deep history together, to not watch the spark vanish from Optimus' eyes with the hands of my own..." Megatron's voice trails off. _'You will be able to do so if Optimus is cured,'_ Bumblebee beeps. "Well played, scout..." Megatron opens his hand to show a holographic blue cube, containing the cure to the cybonic plague. Bumblebee takes a good look at it. "The chemical formula for the cure you seek...not that I expect you to understand it..." Megatron says.

Bumblebee was about to retrieve it, not until Megatron closes his hand, making the cure vanish, _'What the?'_ "Not yet..." Megatron says. _'Huh?'_

"How am I to terminate Optimus as you proposed? While I'm trapped here in a perpetual daydream?" Megatron asked before turning to look at Bumblebee again, "Once you've released me from this prison, the cure is yours. You must guarantee my recovery, or... Optimus fades to gunmetal grain, the _real_ Optimus..."

Ratchet then rewinds the video, showing the cure that Megatron was holding again, "Arcee, we have the formula, disconnect Bumblebee _now!_" The down-link was disconnected, meaning Arcee has done what she was told. "Ariona, open a ground bridge for them!" I quickly ran over to the lever and put in the coordinates. After that, I pull down the lever, opening a bridge. I turn to the opening, seeing Bumblebee run through, then Arcee. I blinked, then greet them a smile, relieved.

:

"Steady..." Ratchet says as he helped Optimus stand from his berth. Everyone claps and cheers and so do I. "Please. Reserve the hero's welcome to my physician. And, my scout," Optimus says. We all turn to clap for Bumblebee, while he rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. Then, he takes a couple of bows. He does have the right to show off a bit, anyway.

"I'm glad you were able to make it out safe, Bumblebee," I smiled at him and pat his shoulder. Bumblebee doesn't reply, as he stared off into space. "Bumblebee?" I waved my hand in front of him, questioning about the look of his optics. "Hey," He snaps back to reality and his optics return to normal, looking down at me while blinking. "You okay?"

Bumblebee hesitates before nodding, then offered to play a couple wounds on the racing game. "It _had_ to be that," I rolled my optics, "Maybe another time, you should get some real rest," I pat his shoulder again before walking away, still worried about the look in Bumblebee's optics while he was staring off into space.

:


	14. Chapter 14

I let out a yawn after waking up from my stasis nap. Optimus was able to recover from the cybonic plague and everything seemed back to normal. I came into the main room where Bumblebee and Bulkhead were standing facing each other while one of them held a large metal ball. "What's going on? Lobbing?" I asked while raising an optic ridge. "Nope, we're playing basketball," Miko replied. "Don't know what that is, but, okay," I shrugged, walking over to where Jack and Raf were and watched.

"Alright, let the games begin!" Miko says before blowing through her whistle. _"Ugh...[I hate that thing...]"_ I hissed slightly, rubbing my head from the loud noise. Bumblebee spins the ball on his finger before throwing it over Bulkhead, who manages to catch it with ease. He turns around to toss the ball into the makeshift hoop. "Whew!" Miko cheers for him. Bulkhead lets the ball roll to him and he picks it up, turning to Bumblebee, "Best two out of three?"

Bulkhead throws the ball to Bumblebee and he catches it, starting to run towards Bulkhead and around him to get to the hoop. "You're in the clear, Bumblebee!" Raf shouts. Bumblebee stops in front of the hoop and remains still. _"Huh?"_ I blinked.

"Come on, Bumblebee, quit hogging the ball," Bulkhead said. Bumblebee suddenly spins around and hurls the ball at Bulkhead. "Whoa!" Bulkhead ducks his head in time, almost hit. I flinched once Miko blows into the whistle again, "Foul!" "Dodge ball by the way of Cybertron. Nice," Jack shrugs. "Bee, the hoops over there," Bulkhead points at the makeshift hoop. _'Sorry, I don't know what happened,'_ Bumblebee shrugs. "Are you alright, Bumblebee? You've been acting weird," I tilt my head to the side a bit.

_'Yeah. Why not a game of three out of five?' _Bumblebee beeps, holding up three fingers. "Sure, okay," Raf says, shrugging his shoulders. I raise my right cheek, creating a confused look while watching Bulkhead and Bumblebee continue on playing basketball.

:

I walked along the hallway, thinking about how I could get another dinosaur mask to replace the other one that got burnt during my last time racing. I turn around the corner and jumped while letting out a yelp, seeing Bumblebee. I breathed out, "By the ancients, Bumblebee, you scarred me!" Bumblebee doesn't reply. I let out a sigh, walking up to him, "What are you still doing here? You have to take Raf to school, remember?" I asked with a raised optic ridge.

Bumblebee then grabs my shoulder forcefully and slams me against the wall. _"Ah-!"_ I open my optics again in shock and looked up into Bumblebee's glaring ones. He raises his right hand, turning it into a cannon and pointing it point blank right in my faceplate. I stared back at the cannon with a shocked expression, not knowing what to think or do. Bumblebee's optics were now back to normal. He blinks at me, noticing how hard his grip was on my shoulder. He looks over at the cannon and quickly leans his head away in surprise.

He turns his cannon back into a hand and stumbles away from me, beeping in confusion. He turns towards the rest of the hall and runs away. I remain in my shocked state, slowly sliding down the wall onto the floor, petrified.

:

"Prime! Have you spot any Decepticons wearing hula skirts lately?" Fowler asked over the video cam on the computer screen. "Decepticons went to Hawaii...?" I raised a side of my mouth in amusement. "No, special agent Fowler, we have not. _Why?_" Optimus asked. "Because I was hoping you would have a lead on the 'Cons who have busted into the Kauwai Naval Observatory. Place looked like it got hit by an army of wrecking balls," Fowler says.

"Why would 'Cons break into an observatory?" Arcee asked, saying it like it was absurd. "Does the Heuck Nigoghossian ring any bells?" Fowler asked. "_Not at all_," I shook my head slowly, having no idea what Fowler means. "The space telescope," Raf answers. "As from last night, it's been missing it's primary lens," Fowler explains.

"It's difficult to guess Starscream's intent without knowing where the lens has been taken," Optimus says. "Good thing the lens haves a tracking device," Fowler shows us the location of where the telescope lens were. The map showed that it was in the arctic. "The _arctic?_ Great...another chance to freeze our sparkplugs off," Arcee says, not amused one bit. The map zooms in on the area, showing a patch of Energon.

Bulkhead whistles, "That's the biggest unmineable Energon deposit," "Unmineable. Until Starscrem melts his way down to it," Optimus says. "With help from the lens," Arcee adds. "Melting a glacier that size can cause sea levels to raise and demolish coastal cities," Fowler says. "More reason to hurry and stop Starscream?" I asked with a shrug. Ratchet puts in the coordinates of the lens' location. I step inside the bridge with Optimus, Arcee and Bulkhead, glancing back at the sleeping Bumblebee before leaving.

On the other side, I stepped in snow and felt weird while doing so. But, the temperature was a lot more higher than I expected. "Are you sure that we're not in the Rocky Mountains instead?" I asked as a joke. "It sure is a lot warmer than our last visit," Arcee said, "It feels like summer," I notice Bulkhead stop after peering from behind a giant glacier. I follow behind with Optimus and Arcee, seeing the Decepticon warship and a large fiery beam coming from it and contacting the surface below. "Here, that's a bad thing," Bulkhead says.

"Wow, if this keeps up, the Decepticons will add to the list of reasons why Earth has global warming," I bit my lip. "Autobots," We all turn our attention to Optimus, "Remember the end run on Polyhex?" I raised an optic ridge while smirking a bit, having a slight idea.

:

I skate off the edge of a small glacier in high speed, landing in between Bulkhead and Arcee. By the ancients, I hope this plan works out again. As we drew closer towards the warship's location, I notice a shadow in the sky, coming down on us fast. I quickly slide away from the object, avoiding contact. But, once the object hits the surface near us, I lost footing and tumbled forward before fixing myself upward. I used the skates to turn myself around and see the Decepticon, Breakdown.

My lips form into a hard line as I bear out my blades. I skate after him, ready to attack. Breakdown sees me in view and smirks at me. As I got closer, he grabs my sides and tosses me over his shoulder. I manage to slash my blade in between his shoulder and neck before being thrown a couple of yards into snow. I fix myself up quickly. Arcee goes after Breakdown, activating her blades and jumping into the air and descending onto the top of him. Breakdown snatches her arms and flings Arcee away.

Breakdown then looks at Bulkhead, turning his right hand into a hammer and charging after him. Bulkhead charges at Breakdown, activating his wrecking ball. Both of them threw a punch at each other, causing the ice to crack due to the force. After battling with Breakdown, there was a wave of high pitched sounds that caused my audio sensors to ring. Then, a hurling blast of wind causes me to lose my footing and fly back, tumbling over as I went. _"Ah!"_

Once the wind dispersed, I got up to my knees, slowly standing up with a groan. I looked up at the warship and notice a large stream of smoke coming from it. "Optimus-!" Arcee said in alert. I blinked, noticing Starscream in his vehicle mode, coming down from the sky down towards what looked like Optimus. "!" My optics widen in horror. If one of us tried to go help Optimus, no one would make it in time.

Suddenly, another jet crashes into Starscream, and I instantly recognize the jet, "M-Megatron...?" "He's back..." Arcee said as she narrowed her optics. As we made our way to see Optimus, I watched as the smoking warship glide away out of view. "Ratchet, we need a bridge back," Optimus said over the com-link. "You're not the only one's,"

We all turn to see Ratchet and Bumblebee with Raf, who waved at us. "...Oh slag, how are we going to get back...?" I asked with a sigh of annoyance.

:

"Well, everything seems back to normal," Ratchet says after having Bumblebee being scanned. _'Thanks a lot, Ratchet,'_ Bumblebee said with a smiling expression. "Well, at least normal for Bumblebee..." Ratchet mutters.

_'I'm sorry for the things I did,'_ Bumblebee beeps as he kneels down in front of Raf.

_'You weren't worried, right?'_ Bumblebee beeps. "Of course I was," Raf said with a smile. Bumblebee beeps again. "What did he say?" Miko asked. "He said thanks," Raf answered, exchanging smiles with Bumblebee.

Bumblebee glances over at me, looking away in slight embarrassment and sorry. I let out a sigh with a smile, remembering about Bumblebee pulling out his cannon on me and almost blasting my head off, "It's alright," Bumblebee's optics flicker, as in blinking and looks at me with a wide smile expression.

After everyone was well, I start to walk around the base, minding my own business. _Now...how am I going to get another dinosaur mask...?_

:


	15. Chapter 15

"I'm detecting a faint Dark Energon signal," Ratchet says, looking at the computer screen, "And it's moving fast," "Megatron..." Optimus narrows his optics. "Where did he get more of that stuff?" Arcee asked. "And what's he going to do with it? Re-create an army of the undead?" Bulkhead asked. "That's the last thing we need. Especially if the saying "If they're dead, bust their head" doesn't apply," I said.

"We can't rule out the possibility, especially when Megatron seems to be heading to a familiar sight," Optimus said, "He has barely emerged from stasis, and it seems that he is making up for lost time. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Ratchet, prepare to roll out,"

"Me?" Ratchet said in confusion. "If we're dealing with Dark Energon, I may require your expertise. Arcee," Optimus looks down at the blue female. "Bridge operator, got it," She smiled and walks over to the ground bridge controls. "Go get em', Bulkhead!" Miko cheers in a bland way, "Bring the heart,"

Arcee opens the bridge and all of the males drive through. I blinked, noticing Miko run through the bridge with Jack and Raf following behind. I looked at Arcee, rolling my eyes and groaning to myself in annoyance, I quickly follow after transforming into human mode. "Miko, it's not safe!" Jack said, grabbing Miko's arm. "I am not going to miss my first zombie-'Con throw down!" Miko shouts. She rips her arm out of Jack's and and continues to run into the bridge. _"Ugh! [Hey!]"_ I ran after the kids through the bridge.

After jumping through, I climb up a pile of rocks after the humans, seeing the Autobots confront...Starscream? "Let's see some fight of the living dead already!" Miko cheers. "Miko, what were you thinking! Do you have any idea what risk you're taking!" I yelled as I caught up to her with Jack and Raf. "Hey, I totally missed out last time," Miko rolls her eyes, "This could be my only chance to take some snaps," Miko reaches into her pocket, then patting other pockets.

"My cellphone! I must have dropped it back at the base!" Miko says, looking around the ground to look for her cell. I face palmed myself, sighing while shaking my head, "Who cares about taking pictures? Aren't you suppose to _run_ from zombies before you get slagged by them?"

"Ariona, zombies are awesome," Miko said in slight frustration, still looking around for her phone. "Not when you get slagged by them..." I mutter again. Miko grows more frustrated and turns to Jack with a yell, "I can't believe you made me lose my phone!" I flinch while holding my ear. "My _fault?_ How was this my fault?" Jack asked. "Man, this is like watching over a group of sparklings," I rolled my eyes.

"Arcee to Optimus, Ariona and the kids are missing," Arcee says over the com-link. "We have a visual...send a ground bridge immediately," Optimus orders. _"Ugh..."_ I pulled my eyebrows together, feeling more annoyed about the fact that I'll get in more trouble. A ground bridge opens near the humans and I, along with another one near Starscream. "What? Two?" I blinked in confusion. "Ariona! Get them inside our ground bridge, now!" Ratchet shouts.

"You heard him," I tell the humans, tilting my head towards the ground bridge near us. Jack grabs Miko and follows Raf and I into the ground bridge. As we were half way inside, there was an explosion coming from the bridge. I was knocked from my feet with a yell, and then there was black.

:

When I came to, I noticed myself laying on the ground. I moaned as I sat up and looked around, seeing Jack, Raf and Miko still with me. "Is everyone alright?" Jack asked. "I think so..." Raf fixes his glasses. "What just happened?" Bulkhead asked as he stood up from behind us. "I don't know, but my head's killing me," I replied, rubbing the side of my head. "I'm not certain. But, if two ground bridges were sent to the same coordinates, it would cross streams. It could have triggered a system overload," Ratchet replies, standing up with Optimus and Bumblebee.

"_Could?_" Miko said in nervousness, "More like totally **did**," "The kids made it through, right?" Bulkhead asked. "Bulkhead, we're right here!" Miko shouts. "Dude, we're being ignored or something like that," I cocked an eyebrow. "Arcee, did the children make it safe back to base with Ariona?" Optimus asked. "Negative," Arcee replied through the comp-link, "You don't see them?"

"There's no sign of them," Ratchet says. "What? No sign!" Miko says, annoyed. Bulkhead starts to walk forward in front of Miko. Miko let out a scream as Bulkhead's foot went right through her. "What the slag!" I said with a surprised look, hardly believing what I've just seen. "He went through you...we're not alive!" Jack said. "Not alive? I don't want to be a ghost!" Raf clings onto Jack.

"Wait, how come we can still touch each other?" Jack asked, patting my shoulder to see if I was like them. "Because ghosts can feel each other like how live beings can do as well...? Frag, it, I don't want to be dead!" I was on the urge of panicking. We all notice the Autobots start to walk off and we follow behind. "Ratchet, could they have been transported onto the Nemesis instead?" Optimus asked.

"No. If Starscream didn't arrive at our base, the most likely explanation is a dislocation. The children and Ariona might have been bridged to an unintended destination," Ratchet replied. I stopped along with the humans. "A place that's here, but it's not the same?" Raf asked. "Come again?" I asked. "We're probably in a different dimension. Some kind of alternate-reality. A, shadowzone," Raf says. "Nerd alert," We looked at Miko from her comment.

"Great, like entering the shadowzone," I rolled my eyes with a sigh, "I've never experienced anything like this before," I hear a loud long moan as a robotic hand peered from behind a rock wall, causing me to jump from the sight of it. A Cybertronian walks out from behind the wall, glowing purple optics. He limped his way over towards the Autobots. "I-It's an undead!" I said in alert. "Look out!" We all start to run towards the others. "It's right behind you!" Raf shouts. "Bulkhead!" Miko calls out.

"It's no use, they can't hear us," I said with a hopeless expression. The undead Cybertronian raised his clawed hand, slashing it down and it goes right through Bulkhead. We all came to a stop in relief. "Awesome! He can't touch them either!" Miko says with a smile. The undead Cybertronian turns around. I could feel his lifeless gaze fall on us. "But, if he can't touch them, then we're all in the same dimension, and that means..." I gulped.

"We're trapped in here with a zombie!" Raf asks with a panic in his voice. The undead Cybertronian slowly makes his way to us, letting out eerie moans. "If we're not ghosts now, we will be soon..." Miko shivered. The undead Cybertronian stops in front of us, letting out a loud roar. "Make a break for it!" I screamed, turning around and take off at full speed with the humans following by my side. I looked back, seeing how far the undead Cybertronian was now and seeing Raf trip over and his glasses falling off.

"Scrap!"

Jack runs back to Raf and grabs him, running back to tempurary safety behind a large boulder where Miko and I were hiding. "Jack, my glasses!" Raf said. "It's too dangerous," Jack said. "But I can't see without them!" Raf says. "What are you? Ninety?" Miko asked. "_Not helping_," Jack hisses. "Fine," Miko takes off to get Raf's glasses. "Wait!"

I blinked, looking over the boulder to see the undead Cybertronian drawing closer. Miko manages to grab Raf's glasses and come back, dodging the undead Cybertronian along the way. "Here you go, gramps, let's move," Miko gives Raf's glasses back and runs off away from the moaning undead Cybertronian. Of course, we gladly follow behind.

"Wait, Ariona, can't you transform and take this guy down?" Jack asked. "What...? Why didn't I think of that before?" I mentally slap myself and try to transform. But, nothing happens. "Anytime now!" Miko says. "I-I can't!" I shout in panic. "What are we going to do?" Raf asked. "Maybe we can set a trap, try to crush it," Miko suggests. "With what? Nothing else is solid besides us and the ground!" Raf says. "He's got a point," I said, starting to pant. "We can't run forever. But, maybe we can hide," Miko says.

After a long run, we all stop to take deep breaths. "Phew. The good thing about zombies is: they're slow," Miko imitates a lazy moving zombie. A sound of rock music was heard. "Is that your...?" Raf asked. "Phone!" The humans say altogether. Jack reaches into the pocket on his jeans and pulls out his cell, flipping it open. "Hello? Arcee?" Only static replies. "...Nothing," Jack hangs up. "Imagine _that_. The forth dimension has lousy cellphone reception," Miko says in annoyance. "It would make sense..." I said with a slight frown.

"Wait. You guys, the phone rang. We're getting a signal," Jack says. "Maybe the Autobots can't see or hear us, because we're moving at hyper speed or something," Raf shrugged. "Running a marathon?" I raised an eyebrow. "Maybe they could read us..." Jack said, giving it a thought. "Texting!" Raf said. Miko gasped, "Text me! If my phone's back at the base, maybe they'll see it!"

"Let's hope so," I said, watching as Jack clicked buttons on his cell. I twitched hearing a footstep. All of us turn to see the undead Cybertronian. _"Ah-!"_ I stepped back. "Can you type and run?" Raf asked Jack in an uneasy voice. We all run towards the undead Cybertronian, going through between his feet before he swiped at us. Jack manages to send the text and we all continue to run.

"This is getting ridiculous. Cue 'Running in the 90's'," I said in annoyance. "Guys, we just ran in one big circle!" Miko says. Then, all of us collide into a metal object and fall back. I looked up to see an arm. "It must have gotten trapped in here, too," Raf said. "_Thank you, Starscream_," I chuckled as I got up and ran over to the arm, seeing how it was armed with missiles-no pun intended.

The humans got up and helped me aim the arm to face the area where the undead Cybertronian would pop out of. "Do you know how this works," Miko asked me. "Y-Yeah..something that has to do with the fingers," I said, looking around Starscream's fingers. I could hear the undead Cybertronian coming closer. "Better find out now!" Jack shouts, "We need to make it count!"

I felt around the fingers, grabbing the index one and pulling it back and it sounds of with a 'click'. A missile fires it's way towards the undead Cybertronian and hits it directly with a bang. "How do you like us now!" Miko cheered out. The undead Cybertronian comes out of the smoke with a roar. We watched as his arm falls off. "Starscream's weaponry sucks!" I shout, kicking Starscream's arm. The arm that fell off the undead Cybertronian twitches before coming to life and crawling at us like a spider. "Come one!" Jack yells, pulling us to run with him away from the arm.

"How can a zombie arm move faster than the actual zombie?" Miko asked. "That's a fragging good question!" I pant as I ran, trying to ignore the crawling arm that was after us, which I mind extremely frightening.

:

Miko groaned in annoyance as we came across Starscream's arm again, "Come on! This place is like a big marry-go-round!" "Skyquake! Your master summons you!" Starscream's voice booms. We all hid behind his arm and see Starscream walking towards us. "How did that freak get into our dimension!" Miko asked. "He didn't. He can't see us," Jack comes out from hiding. Miko turns around, seeing the arm still crawling, "Forget Starscream, we gotta run...! Some more..."

As Miko suggests, we keep on running away. We stop in our tracks once a ground bridge opened right in front of us. "Whoa!" I almost trip forward as I stopped. "A ground bridge?" Raf said in confusion. "That has to be our way out," Jack says. "If we go through, we run right into Starscream! And if we don't..." Raf looks over his shoulder. "We're zombie chow," Jack finishes for him. "Starscream wont be bothering us much, when a zombie hand runs to him and nabs him," I say.

"Right!" Jack says, "Follow my lead," Jack takes his position in front of the bridge opening with us standing by him. "...Now!" We all run to the ground bridge and dive through, winding up near Starscream's feet and running through. "Humans! Where did you vermin-!" Starscream was interrupted when the zombie arm attacks him and grabs at his faceplate.

As we kept going, another ground bridge opens in front of us. Optimus, Arcee and Bulkhead appeared. Becoming aware of our safety, they take us back through the bridge back to the base. "Geez," I let out a long deep breath, "I'm glad we're out of that pinch,"

"Look, if you guys are going to blam anyone, blame me," Miko says. "I-I'm sorry, could you repeat that? A couple dozen times?" Jack asked, surprised at what Miko admitted. "Miko, what you have endured in lesson enough. We're just glad that you're all safe," Optimus smiled down at us. I blinked up at him, not knowing how else to react from his expression but to be surprised.

"Guess it was a good thing you dropped this," Bulkhead kneels down and hands Miko's cell to her, "Too bad you didn't get any pictures," "That's okay. I'm pretty sure that I have zombie close up seared into my brain," Miko smirks. "Hopefully, I'll never have to face zombies again. Too bad, that might be a likely chance," I said with a sigh, followed by a small laugh.

:


	16. Chapter 16

"Bulkhead's been quiet for some time now..." I said in concern. Bulkhead has gone to the eastern part of Russia to look for Energon deposits, and he hasn't reported anything for quite some time. "I'll give him a call," Miko says, taking out her phone and used the com-link to contact him. "Marco!" I looked at her, confused of what she said. "Marco!" Bulkhead let's out a groan over the cell. "Miko?" "You're suppose to say 'Polo'," Miko says back.

"Is this some time of codes humans use during battles?" I asked. Miko laughs at what I said, "No, it's a game," "Miko...let Ratchet know that I need a ground bridge," Bulkhead says before hanging up. "Bulkhead sounds like he got hit by a train," I said in worry, offering my hand to Miko and she climbs onto my shoulder. We walked over to Ratchet to tell him about the news.

:

"Engaging the enemy on your own was foolish, Bulkhead," Optimus says as Bulkhead was getting patched up by Ratchet. "Breakdown jumped me. I knew I could take him," Bulkhead winced. "Stay still," Ratchet says, not in annoyance this time. "But he was able to handle him, right Bulk?" Miko asked. "About that..." Bulkhead looks down. "You didn't torch him?" Miko tilts her head to the side. "Not exactly. I figured you guys did. When I came to, Breakdown was just...gone. I remember hearing a copter...maybe agent Fowler took care of him,"

"Not me," Fowler steps in, "But I may have an idea on who it was. Show me where this occurred,"

:

"This is where we picked up Bulkhead," Ratchet said, showing a map on the computer screen. "The Kamchatka Peninsula in Eastern Russia. Much of it was abandoned twenty years ago when it's first volcano erupted," Fowler said," My intel reported MECH activity there today. "_MECH?_ You mean those techy guys?" Miko asked. "One of those who know of our existence on your planet..." Ratchet said. MECH is a group that has an obsession with underground technology, which means we've had run ins with them a couple of times during missions.

"They must have tracked one of us," Bulkhead says. "What would they want with Breakdown?" Miko asked. "...Whatever it is, we have to go help Breakdown to stop it," I said after giving a bit of thought while listening to everyone talk. "What?" Bulkhead said, looking at me in surprise. "Breakdown's a Decepticon. MECH can have him," Arcee says. "But we can't just let them do whatever they want," I said in concern. "Ariona, you have no idea what Breakdown has done. And if you're really concerned about helping a Decepticon, you might as well consider yourself one," Bulkhead says with narrowed optics.

I blinked at him in surprise. I know Bulkhead and Breakdown have had bad times, but did he really have to say that? I pull my optic ridges together, glaring Bulkhead down, "If I was one, then I wouldn't give a slag about what happens to him..." I stomped over past everyone to the ground bridge control panel. I use the coordinates we used to pick up Bulkhead and opened a bridge. Bumblebee beeps at me in shock as I ran through the bridge opening.

After going through, I end up landing on dark soil, surrounded by crumbling, abandoned buildings. That's right, now, it was day time back at Jasper while nighttime in Russia. These time-lines really confuse me. I let out a deep sigh, steaming out frustration and looked over my shoulder to see the ground bridge close. I take a look around, studying my surroundings. An old rusted out playground, old windowless buildings, most of them have lost part of themselves over the years, unfinished construction. A real ghost town.

I looked at the ground to my left, cocking an optic ridge, seeing tracks made by car tires in the dirt. _This place was abandoned years ago, there's no way a car could have driven by. Unless..._ I activate my skates, knowing that it would make less noise. Taking caution and focusing on my sensors, I start to skate, following the tracks. I deactivate my skates after a short while and peered over the corner of the building, seeing the tracks lead into a tunnel that trains use to use.

Making sure the coast was clear, I walk out from behind the building and head towards the tunnel entrance, transforming into my human mode once I got closer. I looked into the tunnel, gulping. It looked so dark...narrow...dark. _Come on, suck it up, Ariona! Don't back down now!_ I took in a deep breath and walked into the tunnel. As I continued forward, the light from the moon was slowly fading away until it was pitch black. I began to grow nervous, continuing to walk straight.

"Oof!" I bumped into a metal wall, causing a loud bang. I widen my eyes, biting my lip. The metal wall was a door, as it slowly starts to open. I act fast and used my invisibility cloak, one of the abilities I've received from the Oronian, Nikki, from the last time I've seen her. The door stopped opening one it was five feet wide and a MECH goon walks out a takes a look around. I hold my breath, praying to the ancients he doesn't see me. "Nothing here," The goon says before walking back inside. I slipped in before the door closes and continue on my way into the tunnel, avoiding goons as I went.

Once I see small amount of light near the end of the tunnel, I felt relief. I turn the curve and see Breakdown, laying on his back at the end of the tunnel. I cocked an eyebrow, seeing sparks as well. I ran towards him, making sure to not make much noise. Once I got a closer look, I let out a gasp, then covering my mouth with my hand. There were machinery and goons that were operating on Breakdown. What caught most of my attention, was what was left of Breakdown's right optic.

"Enjoying the view?" I flinched, looking up the platform to see the MECH leader, Silas, hoping that he wasn't talking to me. Luckily, he wasn't. His question was meant for Breakdown, "Ironically, your would be rescuers are going to be in more pieces than you," "Decepticons don't break that easy!" Breakdown growls. "Who said they were Decepticons...?" Silas asked.

"That doesn't make sense...Autobots wouldn't come to rescue me..." Breakdown says coldly. "That's what you think..." I mumbled. I bit my lip, noticing the goon look up from his work and looking around, before turning to his neighbor, "Hey, did you say something?" "Hm? Nope," The other goon replies with a shrugs. _Phew_. Suddenly, there was a sound of banging coming from down the tunnel I just came from, causing me to look up at the computer screen behind Silas, which was showing what the security camera was showing.

The metal door I slipped through was bashed open, showing Bulkhead behind him. _Bulkhead!_ I notice the MECH leaving to deal with business. Probably some firepower. "I can't believe he's here," I shook my head. "Who's there...?" I jolt, turning to see Breakdown. _Oops_.

I stepped back a bit, transforming into my robot mode and deactivating my invisibility cloak, relieving myself. I shoved the machinery out of the way and kneel down next to Breakdown. "You're..that Oronian...why are you here?" Breakdown asked with a bit of shock and annoyance in his voice. "It's your dumb Cybertronian war that got me into this, so I wouldn't complain," I point at him before grabbing one of the metal restraints keeping his hands down and start to pull.

"That doesn't answer my question..." Breakdown said. I stopped pulling, letting out a sigh and turned my head to look at Breakdown into his optic. "Because, at first...I thought it was the right thing to do. But now, seeing _this_," I looked at Breakdown up and down, from his opened chest plate, to his right hollow optic socket, "No one deserves this...no matter who they may be..."

Breakdown blinks at me, remaining silent. I let out a short giggle from him reaction and continued to pull at the restraint, "Geh-...! You know, I could use some help," I said. "I tried, it didn't work out for me," Breakdown says. "What? Aren't you suppose to be, oh, I don't know, _strong?_" I raised an optic ridge. "You don't seem to be the strong type yourself," Breakdown retorts with a small smirk.

"I'm not _that_ weak," I rolled my optics. Breakdown chuckles to himself. I blinked, catching something from the corner of my optic and turned my head, looking down the tunnel, seeing Bulkhead. "Look who decided to help..." I said out loud with an unamused look. Breakdown looks up to see Bulkhead as well. "Yeah, yeah..." Bulkhead sighed, walking up to us, looking down at Breakdown, "This must be your lucky day,"

Bulkhead grabs the restraints and pulls them off with ease, making me feel flustered. Bulkhead held his hand out to Breakdown, who hesitated to take it and was helped up onto his feet. He stumbles over a bit, but catches his footing. "Can you walk?" Bulkhead asked. "I think so..." Breakdown replied, closing his chest. The alarms suddenly went off. "How pleasant..." I said in annoyance. "Can you run?" Bulkhead asked Breakdown.

"Never run when you can fight?" Breakdown replies, his right hand forming into a hammer. "Just keep that thing pointed _away_ from me, alright?" Bulkhead said while shoving the hammer away from him with his hand. "Come on," He says to me and starts to run down the tunnel for an exit. I blinked before following behind with Breakdown. Midway through, we encountered goons, shooting at us. We shove them away before making out of the exit.

I shield my face and eyes once spotlights and bullets were shot at us. I bit my lip, feeling the bullets graze over my armor. But, I knew it wasn't going to last as long like the male's armors. "Get behind me," Bulkhead orders me and he stepped to the side to cover me from the firepower a bit. I did as I was told and got behind him, activating my blades and putting them together into a cannon, ready to shoot. Breakdown was already shooting down MECH's cars.

"Do you have an escape plan?" Breakdown asked Bulkhead. "Yeah. But you're not going to like it," Bulkhead activates his com-link, "Bulkhead to Optimus. Rendezvous to my coordinates. We need backup," I step out from behind Bulkhead and start to shoot cars down, dodging most bullets that were shot at me. I looked around to see where Bulkhead and Breakdown were. I widen my optics, seeing Bulkhead land on his hands and knees, being surrounded. I use my cannon to fling a car out of my way and ran over to Bulkhead's right to help. _"Huh?"_ I blinked, noticing Breakdown running towards Bulkhead's left.

Before I could jump out of the way, Breakdown tackled Bulkhead to save him from a electric missile, causing Bulkhead to ram into me. _"Ugh..."_ I hissed in embarrassment, sitting up from the ground, but happy that Bulkhead was alright, thanks to Breakdown. I got up and break my cannon apart, back to using blades and then disarming them. I use my hand and arms to toss the goons away from me. I then noticed that the cars weren't coming towards us, but away from us. "Did...did we beat 'em...?" I asked in confusion.

I looked up to the sky, where Bulkhead and Breakdown were, and see five jets flying towards us while the helicopters were flying away. "Your backup?" Breakdown asked us. The jets transformed and on the ground. They were Vehicons. Also, a Starscream. I blinked and took a step back. "Commander Starscream!" Breakdown said, surprised. "Consulting with the enemy, Breakdown...?" Starscream asked, slowly walking forward to us.

"T-They got me out of there," Breaktown said, glancing at Bulkhead and I. "Many spark filled thanks to you, Autobots," Starscream says, bowing a bit with a hand over his chest, then turning to Breakdown, "Now destroy them..." _"Huh? [What?]"_ I took another step back, looking at Breakdown, with mouth slightly agape and a worried expression. Breakdown looks at Bulkhead, then at me. Shortly after, he swiftly turns to Startscream, "B-But-"

"Do you plan on joining their ranks anytime soon? No? Then be done with it already!" Starscream shouts. Breakdown turns around to glance at me for a short moment before looking at Bulkhead, "...Tough break, Bulkhead," Breakdown forms his hammer, "Maybe in the next life," He raises the hammer and swings it down at Bulkhead. Bulkhead swerves out of the way, hitting Breakdown's back with all of his might. I quickly jump out of the way before Breakdown falls down into the ground face first.

"Destroy them!" Starscream yells before getting sent back into the air by Bulkhead's punch. The Vehicons aim their cannon's at us. Thinking fast, Bulkhead turns around and grabs Breakdown by his feet, swirling around with a yell before throwing him to the Vehicons. Breakdown lands back on the ground, taking the Vehicons with him.

"Come on, I'll scrap all of ya!" Bulkhead taunts. Starscream gets back up, glaring at us and was about to attack with the Vehicons. Blue lasers grazed in front of them. I followed from where they came from and see the rest of the Autobots running over to aid us. "Retreat!" Starscream orders before transforming into a jet with the rest of the Vehicons and flying away. I looked over at Bulkhead and see Breakdown shoving him out of his way as he ran, his arm grazing my back harshly. He transform into his vehicle mode and drives away fast, dodging the rest of the blue lasers.

"Engaging the enemy was even more foolish this time, Bulkhead," Optimus said as he stopped next to us along with the rest of the Autobots, "But, I am honored that you saw fit to rescue your rival. You have truly risen above yourself," "Did you see that? I beat Breakdown and bashed him with his own hammer!" Bulkhead laughs, "I've won the rematch!"

"...I'm sure Miko would be proud," Arcee said with a slight smile. I turned away from the others and looked towards where Breakdown had driven away as an escape, slowly forming a frown on my faceplate.

:

Some time after we all have returned to the base, and having Optimus talk to me about running out on my own as I'll risk myself-which I wasn't very proud of-with the enemies, I was confronted by Bulkhead. "Hey, Ariona?" I turned to look at him, wearing a normal look, "I'm..sorry about what I said to you earlier. I know you were just trying to do the right thing," Bulkhead said, "Are we cool..?"

"Yeah," I chuckled after thinking for a bit, playfully punching his arm, "We are," I flinched, hearing Fowler's loud snoring while he was asleep on the couch. "Does he have a home or anything?" I asked, slowly growing annoyed from the loud snores. "We were watching creature double feature," Bulkhead chuckled. "What's that?" I asked, "Does it have any giant reptiles in it?" "Um...yeah, I guess?" Bulkhead said. "Oh..." I said in disappointment.

"...Maybe I'll show it to you when it comes back on, alright?" Bulkhead offers me with a smile. "Okay," I said with a wide grin.

:


	17. Chapter 17

"Ariona, what's your current position?" Ratchet asked over the com-link. "There's no signs of Decepticons or MECH. Are you sure there's a deposit around here?" I asked, looking around me for any signs of human activity. So far, I haven't seen any humans either. My current location was somewhere in Eastern part of the state called Pennsylvania. The location had a lot of trees around, most of them on my left gave more of an eerie feeling than the other wooded parts of the area.

"I am certain. The Energon signal is due east from where you're standing," Ratchet answered. I sighed, turning to my left and stared into the trees, seeing how light didn't reach into the woods made me shiver, "Alright. I'll report in a bit," I gave out a sigh before disconnecting from the com-link and stepping into the woods. The trees were so dense, and it looks like it stretched out for miles. Birds fluttered away from their trees as I walked by, pushing branches out of my way.

The more I continued on, the more it became rare of seeing any animals. There was a fog forming as well and the sun was beginning to set. I turned on the com-link and began to say something, but I was interrupted. "Do you see anything, Ariona?" Ratchet asked, sounding concerned. I take a quick look around, "I only see fog and plants. Why?" I asked. "We're getting a reading of beings around you, and their signature is almost the same as yours," Ratchet replied. "Well, I don't see any life forms. It must be a jam. I'll look around for the Energon some more, then I'll call you for a bridge back," I said.

"Take extreme caution, Ariona. We're not sure of what's going on," Optimus said. "Understood," I said before disconnecting. I take one step forward.

'Crunch!'

I flinched, taking a couple of steps back before looking down at the ground, seeing a crushed rusted car door. What's a car door going in the middle of a forest...? I looked up from the car door, adjusting my optics to get a good look up ahead. Not far away, I see a cemented wall, which looked as if it was apart of an apartment building. I cocked an eyebrow, walking up to get a closer look. Stepping over a small metal fence, my foot landed on cracked pavement. I blinked, seeing buildings surrounding me. Is this...a town?

It was, but the place looked recently abandoned. What didn't make sense, were the roads that lead out of the town. Past the small fence, plants were covering the roads. Nothing, not even a weed, past the metal fence. It's as if nature couldn't touch the town. Which adds to the eerie in the town was emitting off. "Ariona to base, I just located a town, it looks like it's abandoned," I flinched once static replies, "Ariona to base, come in!" The static screeches into my audio sensors. "Geh-!" I quickly turn the com-link off, rubbing my head.

Great, the com-link's down...

I transform into my human mode and start to look around the town. By now, it was almost nighttime, and the fog was a bit more dense than before. The wind picks up, carrying material along with it. This town is not hesitating to creep me out. I came to a stop, thinking that I might of heard something. There were sounds of crying and moaning echoing off the walls. I kick the ground and start to jog towards where the sound was coming from. It didn't bother me when the clacking of my feet echoed across the town, I didn't really care. I might not be alone, or maybe I am.

I slowed down once I came in front of a large building. I walked over to a sign in front of the building and tried to read it. I wiped my hand across the sign to remove debree. The only words I could make out on the sign was: "-che-illa -pital". I guess this is a hospital... Why is it always the hospital...?

The cries continued inside the hospital building. Taking a step back, looking around, I bit my lip and faced the building again. Cursing in my Oronian language, I make my way up to the front doors, pulling them open and entering inside. My lips form into a hard line once the doors close behind me, leaving me inside the dark. I huffed before letting the gem on my chest glow bright. My face scrunch up from catching a scent of something. I sniffed the hair again.

Man, it's so musky in here... Using the light from my gem, I continue to follow the cries, walking down the hallway on my right. The hall was long, filled with papers and a few emergency beds. I stopped in the middle of the hallway and faced the door that bared the number "108" on it. I take the door handle in my hand and slowly turned it. I pull the door open and a skeleton of a human falls through, falling to pieces. I was about to let out a scream until I slap a hand over my mouth, staring in horror.

I swallow hard and let out a long breath. "W-Wrong room..." I muttered to myself and take a step to the side to stand in front of room "109". I didn't hesitate to open the door this time and stepped into the room, looking around. Looking into the far right corner, I blinked. Sitting there, curled into a ball was a girl, who look as if she could be ten. Her hair was a platinum blond, and her skin looked raw, covered in sores and burns. The girl was covered by worn bandages, coming from her nose all the way down to her thighs.

I hesitate before slowly walking up to the crying girl, kneeling down next to her, "Hey, are you alright?" I asked. The girl jumped, turning her head to look at me with red, bloodshot eyes. The poor girl looks like she hasn't had sleep in months. "What are you going here...?" I asked her. The girl softly mumbled under the bandages, looking at me with alert in her eyes. "Um..." I looked around, spotting a surgical knife on a metal counter and grabbed it, holing it up to the girl's face.

The girl's eyes widen, squeezing herself further against the corner. "I'm not going to hurt you," I said, holding up the knife to where the girl's mouth would be and carefully cut the bandages open, revealing pale, cracked lips. "Oh my..." I shake my head at the girl's condition, "Now, can you please tell me who you are, and why you're here...?" I asked calmly, putting the knife back from where I got it.

The girl's lips trembled as she tried to speak, but was able to voice some words, "I...I don't have a name..." The girl managed to say. "...I'll call you Mary. Can you tell me why you're here?" I asked after a short pause. "I'm...lost... trying to..find way back...home..." Mary's words were cracked, and so was her voice. I frown, feeling terrible about this girl, "Come one, I'll help you," I stood up and held out my hand to her. Mary's arm shake as she reaches up to take my hand and I pull her up. "Where do you live?" I asked. "In...another world..." Mary answered. _World? Does she mean by different dimension?_

"I have to...get back before he...gets angry again..." Mary said, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "Who?" I asked. Just then, something outside in the hall bumps into an emergency bed, creating a loud echoing bang. If it was possible, my spark could have jumped out of my mouth due to fright. Mary shivers in her spot, staring out the door as sounds of clacking were slowly coming up the hallway towards our room. I quietly walk up to the door and tardily close it, a small click. I bit my lip, hoping whatever is out there didn't hear or notice the door close.

Taking my chances, I peek through the door's window, keeping myself mostly hidden behind the window's corner. The window wasn't clear to see through, but I was able to see a limping figure a couple of ways down. I bent down out of window view. I wave Mary over hysterically. I then notice how frantically she was shaking, her eyes wide. I gave her a confused look before letting out a yelp when something bangs on the door. I remain pushing myself against the door, afraid of what's behind it.

One powerful bang causes the door to force open, hitting my back and sending me flying across the room. I drop onto the metal railing of a hospital bed, then onto the floor, letting out groans as I held my side. I bit my lip and looked up, seeing a four legged creature. It's skin was leathery looking and decaying. It's head had no signs of eyes or ears, but it did have a mouth...a very disgusting one. The creature sniffed the air, growling as it let's it's long tongue fall out of it's mouth.

"What in the world...!" I breathed out. The creature let's out another snarl as it prowls up to us. "Don't move! It can detect your movements!" Someone orders. There was a sound of charging and the creature was blasted at from behind. It lets out a howl before collapsing to the ground before burning up like paper and disappearing. The one who attacked was non other than a girl. One with golden blond hair, teal eyes and..weird clothing?

"Hey, you're that Oronian that pushed me off the cliff!" I said. "Shock to meet you here," The girl, Nikki said while disarming her crossbow. "I should say the same thing..." I cocked an eyebrow. "You've also found my target for me. Nice job," Nikki takes out electric handcuffs. Mary flinches, taking a couple of steps back. "Wait!" I get up and ran in front of the trembling girl, "what are you going to do to her? Can't you see she's in horrible condition!"

Nikki raises an eyebrow at me, "Haven't you seen the things she has done? This town is here because of her," "I-..I'm sorry..." Mary says. "How can you be sure if it's her fault? You can't prove this town's here just because of one little girl!" I shout. "You'll be surprised," Nikki eyes me up and down, "...fine, if you think this girl has nothing to do with this, who is?" "How should I know? I just got here," I rolled my eyes. "Well, first off, let's get out of here before another one of those things show up. They can smell a fresh kill," Nikki said, opening up the door more.

"I thought you said they can only detect movement...?" I asked, helping Mary out of the door. "They can do that, too," Nikki said, taking out a lighter and flicking it on before walking down the hallway. I shivered before following along with Mary.

:

"So, you've been here for about almost a week?" I asked, wiping dust off of my sleeve. "Yeah. At first, I was here looking for Oronian Energon, which is what your team picked up. But, after a couple of hours in this town, I was really shocked of what resided inside of it. Creatures, most of them not created on this planet, decayed, monstrous figures," Nikki puts the last wood piece on the pile of burnable material and lights the pile up using her lighter, "most of them come out at dark, which is probably now. These creatures are nocturnal, sometimes they come out a dusk to look for something to chew on before the others get a chance to.

"When I met her," Nikki nods at Mary, "I knew she was somehow one of them. But, she's a lot more intelligent," "Are you sure she's one of those things..?" I asked. Nikki nods, "I can tell by the look of her eyes, also, how she looks," "But, there's one question that's bothering me: How were we able to detect Oronian Energon here, when there's nothing but an abandoned town filled with creatures?" I asked. "There might be a couple of Oronian Energon somewhere around here. But, I wouldn't risk for just one crystal,"

There were numerous of growls in the darkness all around us, causing all of us to stand up quickly. Glowing eyes could be seen as creatures shapes and sizes were slowly making their way towards us. Nikki and I quickly bare out our weapons. "Careful, these guys are a lot more tougher at nighttime," Nikki says. "Tell me something that's actually good for once," I breathed out. I could already tell that we're out numbered. I was already getting the feeling that we weren't going to make it out of town in one piece. "Mary, make a break for it!" I shout at the girl.

The response I get was a piercing screech and I desperately cover my ears. I turn around and see Mary's disfigured face, the bandages over her mouth ripped and revealing a wide opened, separated mouth, showing off fangs and red tendrils. Mary's hands were turned into claws as she rushed into the ground, slicing at the creatures while letting out cries. "Let's go!" Nikki grabs my hand, shaking me out of a daze and drags me along as she ran. Avoiding objects and creatures, we made it to where the town separates from the woods. We gladly ran into the woods, out of the town and I didn't even dare to look back. Then, I just realized something.

I turn on the com-link, no longer receiving any static, "Ratchet-! We need a bridge, now!" I almost screamed into the com-link. A bridge was opened in front of us and we continue to run through. I tumbled into the base along with Nikki, coming to a stop and taking deep breaths with her. "Ariona, are you alright?" Bulkhead asked in concern. "Never-again," I said between breaths. "Did you have an awesome battle? I wish I've gone with you," Miko whines. "Have you found the Energon deposit?" Ratchet asked.

"No. And I will not ever go back to that location again. I don't care if the Decepticons get to it. If there's even any Energon at all, I will never go back," I said, gasping. "What did you find...?" Optimus asked, noticing the fear that was rushing over my eyes. "I don't want to talk about it...I want to forget about it," I said, sighing. Bumblebee looks at me in worry. "Hey. Who's that?" Raf asked, looking at Nikki. I transform into robot mode along with Nikki. "I am Nikki from planet Oronion," Nikki simply answered, "it is a pleasure to meet the Optimus Prime that I've been hearing a lot about back on my planet,"

"If you are willing, then you are welcome to remain on the team," Optimus offers. "I'd hate to do so, but I can't accept your offer. I'm on a mission of my own, along with Ariona who's lacking on it," Nikki says, glancing at me. "What's that suppose to mean?" I raised an optic ridge.

_The town's darkness will remain with you._

I blinked at the voice inside my head. It sounded a lot like...Mary? "I would like a request for my next destination," Nikki says. Before anything else could happen, I hear the engine of Arcee as she drove in with Jack and a woman. Arcee comes to a stop in front of us. The humans remove their helmets and look up at us. The woman looked a lot like Jack. Then, I clicked.

"Dude, is she your _mother?_"

:


	18. Chapter 18

"Arcee, there's a vehicular form approaching the base," Ratchet says, looking at the computer screen. "A Decepticon?" Arcee asked. "I'm looking forward to busting cap. Three against one, that's no problem," I say rather enthusiastically, "We got this," Ratchet zooms in on the object to show a white car. "Oh..." I dropped my hands down to my sides while Arcee let's out an annoyed sound. "Mom..." Jack rubs his temple. "_Again?_" Arcee asked. "She worries," Jack said. "She's a mother, it's her job to worry about her kids," I said, "I would be a stern mother," Everyone makes a face at me. "What? It's true. Maybe?" I raised the right side of my mouth.

Jack's mother, June, drives into the base and stops near us. She opens her car door, steps out with something in her hand and closes it, "Hi, honey," "Uh, hey," Jack receives a hug from June, feeling awkward. "I finished my shift early at the hospital, so I thought I'd swing by," June looks over at Ratchet, "Good to see you again, doctor," She nods over at the blue female, "Arcee,"

June turns to look at me, "I brought you something, Ariona," "What?" I gasped once June holds up what was in her hand, a juice. "Strawberry Wild?" I transform into my human mode and gleefully take the cup out of her hand, "You're the best, Ms. Darby!" I start to sip out of the straw. June laughs slightly at my action. "So, where's Optimus?" She asked while looking around. "He's on a scouting mission with Bumblebee. Sorry to disappoint," Ratchet replied. "And I wore heels and everything..." June says with a smile. "MOM!" Jack says. "PFFT!" I spit out the juice from my mouth with wide eyes. I felt my face grow warm and I quickly wipe the juice off my chin.

Trying to ignore it, I turn my attention to the entrance an see Bulkhead drive in and come to a stop. Miko and Raf jump out with a laugh. "Did you feel the jeez on that last turn? Bulkhead's amazing!" Miko says with excitement before gasping at the sight of June. Miko and Raf's smiles were replaced with disappointed expressions. Miko whispers something to Raf before walking up to us. I continue to sip out of the straw.

"Don't worry, Ms. Darby, we were wearing seat belts," Raf said in an uneasy way. "I'm sure you were, Rafael. Hi, Miko, how's school going?" June asked with a smile. "Why? What did you hear?" Miko asked with a suspicious look. "You did something?" I asked while having the straw still in my mouth. Miko shushed me. "Well, let's do this thing, Jack," Arcee asked while holding a wrapped up cord in her hand as she walks over towards the ground bridge entrance. "What? I just got here," June said, "I brought sandwiches,"

I stifle a laugh. "Mom, I really need to help Arcee with her new tracking system," Jack says as he starts to follow Arcee. "Just be careful," June says. "There's really nothing to be careful about. It's a routine diagnostic," Arcee said. _"Oh...[Bad choice for words, Arcee...]"_ I shake my head slowly. "Are you sure you need Jack for that?" June asked. Arcee comes to a stop, obviously annoyed. "Bulkhead, I need you on the field to investigate a magnetic disturbance," Ratchet said. "I'll come along," Miko said with a smile, running over to Bulkhead. Bulkhead stops her, "You stay here," Miko groaned deeply, turning around and stomping back to where she came from.

"Why aren't you going with him?" June asked. "Someone thinks it's not safe," Miko answered, eying Bulkhead from over her shoulder. "But it's fine for Jack to go with Arcee?" June cocked an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes. Mothers...

"Mom, it's totally different," Jack said as he walked up to his mother. "How so?" June asked. "A mother knows best, Jack. Hold on, Bulkhead, I'm going with," Arcee threw down the wrapped up cord and walks over to Bulkhead as the bridge opens. After Arcee and Bulkhead left, Jack let's out a sigh. "What did I say?" June asked, noticing her son's look. I restrained myself for saying something smart and finished my juice before leaning it away from my face, staring at the cup. _Where do I put this...?_

:

"You two have been magnetized together?" Ratchet asked. "Whoa-ho-ho, how did that happen?" I almost have a giggle fit. "They can't even take one step without the other one close behind," Miko sighed after an attempt of pulling Arcee from Bulkhead's back over the com-link. "The device that did this is on it's way to Megatron," Bulkhead said. "A polarity gauntlet. A simple, but diabolical creation," Ratchet explains. Arcee sighed, "Just tell me you can unhitch us, Ratchet," "It may be a simple magnetic charge providing your current...attraction," Ratchet said, looking down a bit. I stifle a giggle.

"They're not _attracted_ to each other!" Miko says and Ratchet rolls his optics. "Retrieving the gauntlet may be the best way to reverse the effect. Once Megatron gets his hands on the gauntlet," Ratchet leaves off his sentence. "He'll use it much more than attaching notes and photos to the fridge," Jack says. "That's not good at all," I sucked my teeth, nervous. "I'm not following," June said. "Madam. We are forged with metal alloy. If Megatron could repel us with a flick of a switch, we might never again have a shot at him," Ratchet explains to June.

"He can create an instant force field," Raf said. "Worse, he could use it to meld us all into a scrap pile," Ratchet says. "Why can't we all just wear a suit of rubber?" I thought about it, "it wont even work, huh?" "The good news is: the gauntlet hasn't traveled far," Ratchet turns to the screen, "I strongly suggest a pursuit," "We'll catch up to them on wheels," Bulkhead said. "Whoa, with me on your back?" Arcee asked. "She's got a point, Bulk," I said. "Right..." Bulkhead says. "I'll take point," Miko said.

"Not this time. Back then, it was recon, now, it's war. I'm not risking your well being just so you can hit your daily adrenaline quota." Arcee says, "Ratchet, Miko needs a bridge," "Coming up," Ratchet replied and walks over to the bridge control panel. Miko groans in annoyance, "You think Jack's mom is bad? You sound just like her!" My mouth forms a hard line as I slowly turn my head to see June's reaction. "Is that such a bad thing?" June asked us. "Well..." Jack sighed and starts to walk away from his spot, "I'm going over here," June looks at Raf and I. "Uh...of _course_ not, what makes you think _that?_" I asked with a nervous laugh. Raf gives me a look and I let out a sigh in defeat.

:

"I can't believe I couldn't stick around for probably what would be the most awesome fight!" Miko crossed her arms as she sat next to me. "We just don't want anything to happen to you, Miko. A lot of things could have happened if you stayed with them," I said. "What exactly?" Miko asked. "Oh, I'm pretty sure I can name a lot of things...look, I always want to go into battle, but I'm usually stuck here with Ratchet, how do you think I feel?" I raised an eyebrow. "The last time you went on a mission, you came back frightened. You offered to stay here. What happened on that mission, anyways?" Miko asked.

I look away from her, biting my lip. The last mission, that town that seemed cursed. With the girl, the creatures. I managed to escape from there with Nikki, who is now off on her own again on her "secret mission", which apparently is my mission as well. "You shouldn't experience what I have, no one should," I say, "it's just..." I shivered, closing my eyes, "I still feel a bit paranoid and keep looking over my back a couple of times an hour,"

"Alright, I get the picture," Miko sighed. I opened my eyes to the voice of Arcee, "Mission accomplished, Ratchet. Bridge us back,"

"Souvenir, but.." Bulkhead's sentence trails off as he hands Miko her cellphone. "We don't advice indoor use," Arcee says as she hands the polarity gauntlet to Ratchet. "Eww, they even finished each others sentences," Miko said. I let out a laugh of amusement. "Check it out, Miko. New battle scars," Bulkhead smiled while pointing to a dent on his shoulder pad. Miko whips out of phone and takes a picture. "Arcee, I think I owe you an apology," June said as she walks up to the female. "You do?" Arcee asked in confusion.

"I worry. Especially when I feel like I can't control things, which with a teenager is all the time," June said with a slight laugh, "Jack and I have been close, especially with his dad leaving, and, I guess that it's just...hard to accept that everything's changing. I knew it would someday, but, you're not quite the girl I'd expect Jack to be ditching me for,"

"I think we've all been a little guilty about staying attached to the way things were," Arcee said with a smile. I let out a short sigh, grinning a bit. Then, I slowly regain an emotionless expression as I start to think of the last mission I've had. This was haunting me for quite some time now: How did the town appear there in the first place if it wasn't meant to be there? _I guess it's better for some questions to remain unanswered._

:


	19. Chapter 19

"Ugh, we're suppose to be at a rock concert. But all I see is: rock," Miko crossed her arms as Jack let's out a yawn. "Sorry about your tickets going to waste..." I turned my head so that Miko wouldn't see me rolling my eyes. "The show doesn't start in two hours, so relax," Jack tells her. "Do you know how long I've waited to see Slash Monkey..?" Miko asked. "Um...-" "_Forever!_ And it's their only U.S date!" Miko kicks a small rock and it hits my leg, causing the rock to crumble into pieces due to the impact. I look at what's left of the rock and raised an optic ridge.

"There's a shock. Who doesn't love obscure Bulgarian shriek metal?" Jack asked in a sarcastic way. "The mine's been completely stripped," Arcee said as she walks beside Bulkhead out of the abandoned Energon mine. "But I'm still getting a signal," Bulkhead says as he looks at the portable scanner, "it's faint, but it's definitely Energon," "The Decepticons must have thought there were no more Energon remaining. But that doesn't really make any sense at all," I said. "This operation was probably abandoned for four-maybe five years. Decepticons never leave any Energon behind," Arcee said.

"You guys..." We turn our attention to Jack, who was pointing at the mine's entrance, showing us Miko running inside into the mine. _"Ugh...?[For real...?]"_ I hissed. "She ran in. Unbelievable," Arcee said. "Really? Have you...met her?" Jack asked. "Miko, get back here!" Bulkhead shouts before running after her inside the mine. "It would be interesting to see. You know, if it were..-" "Safe?" Arcee finishes for Jack, "a stripped mine can be unstable, Jack,"

"I promise to step lightly," Jack vowed. "...Alright, just, don't tell your mother," Arcee smiled as she starts back into the mine and Jack follows behind. "You're not serious, aren't you, Arcee?" I asked, timid to follow. "Your decision, Ariona," Arcee called back. "Man, she _is_ serious..." I gulped, watching the last of my team engulfed by the mine's shadows. "Dark...narrow," I mentally slap myself and follow inside into the mine.

:

"Out of all places, I get lost in here..." I muttered to myself in annoyance while trembling. I tapped my gem again to make it grow brighter for a bit. Suddenly, a small silhouette runs across me from a couple of yards away. "M-Miko...?" I called out, feeling even more uneasy when I didn't get a reply. Working up the courage, I decided to follow where the silhouette went. I turn the corner and blinked, no longer seeing the silhouette. "No duh, Ariona. It's dark in here, so it's you're imagina-" I paused, "great, now I'm talking to myself, now..."

I flinched, feeling the ground under my feet starting to rumble. _'Tink'_ "What the-?" I shut my optics tight for a moment once I felt a rock drop onto my helm and bounce off onto the ground below. I looked up above me, squinting my optics to see the ceiling above me. Having trouble on doing so, I bent back a bit more to let my gem shine up onto the ceiling. The rocks above were shaking frantically, more rocks starting to fall. _Why didn't I stay outside!_

I jump out of the way before a large boulder crashed onto the ground. _"Ah!"_ I screech out as another boulder falls on top of me, knocking on my helm. My sight flashed as I fell onto the ground, falling into stasis after numerous amounts of rocks fell on top of me.

:

My optics flicker back on as I let out a groan, rubbing my head. I tried to get up, only to hit my head against something. I let out another groan and let my gem shine brighter, which, I was regretting. I was surrounded my rubble, as if I were inside a coffin. _You've got to be kidding me!_ I banged my hands against the boulders above me, not making any progress of it moving. There must have been other rocks weighing down on top of the boulder. _Scrap!_

I lie back down on the ground, staring up at the boulder above me with an emotionless expression. I would use my canon to blast myself out of here, but that would risk myself getting hit on the head by more rubble, plus, I don't have enough room to bare out my blades. I take out a clear crystal cube, thinking. I then place the cube against my gem, letting a piece of my spark seep out into the cube. Then, the piece immediately gets sucked back into my chest, causing me to let out a gasp. I realized that there wouldn't be enough oxygen for Swiftcut #2 and I to breathe. The oxygen was already depleting.

I let out a sigh, letting the cube fall out of my hand and ignored it as it tumbles off my chest and onto my right arm. I narrowed my optics. _Is it really...?_ My optics fully close and my sight falls dark, then was replaced by an image, a memory.

My first memory was a faded image of two large blackened figures. They were emitting off a comforting feeling. Before I could study the image, it was changed to a smiling, cheerful Nikki. I looked at the background of the image, receiving a nostalgic feeling. This planet wasn't Earth, but it was instead, Oronion. The third image, was a ship. I slightly remember this. It was the time when I was going to Cybertron to help out in the war. A quick image showed Nikki trying to stop me from going. The images after that, I fully remember.

Image of me fighting Decepticons, assisting with Optimus' team, Omega Supreme, the fight with Soundwave, Starscream, the colossal Trypticon, leaving from Cybertron.

Image of Earth, the team I remained on, first glimpse of a human, animals, the last time I've seen Cliffjumper, meeting the three human children, started racing, getting a dinosaur mask, first encounter with Knock Out, helping Breakdown, the abandoned town, seeing Nikki again.

The last set of images were showing the dead planet of Oronion.

I spring back to consciousness, optics wide. I look around me hysterically, finding myself on a berth. "Easy now," Ratchet said. I stared at him before letting out a sigh. _Deja vu much...?_ "It was a good thing your friend was around to help, or we wouldn't be able to find you," Bulkhead said. "Friend?" I asked, blinking once I saw Nikki step up from behind the Autobots and stare at me intentionally. I stare back, then form a weak smile. "Thanks Nikki," Nikki clicked from my expression, as if she has seen it before. "You were able to remember..." Nikki's cheerful expression formed onto her faceplate.

"Thanks to a hit on the head," I joked. "That hit on your head could have caused you to go offline," Ratchet said. "It was worth it, though," I said and Ratchet let's out a sigh, rolling his optics. "I remember our mission as well, the one you have mentioned before," I said while looking at Nikki, "something to do with finding a seed...what does that mean, and why does it feel so familiar?" I asked. "I'll explain another time. Rest until then," Nikki said. "Right, right," I sighed and looked at Arcee and Bulkhead, "so, what happened while I was out?" I asked.

"Seemed like Megatron and Starscream were in the mine as well. When the mine crumbled down, I found Starscream with Bulkhead," Arcee explained. "But, we did a little exchange. We probably wont see him for a while," Bulkhead said with a chuckle. "And Megatron?" I asked. "Same," Jack said. "That's good," I said in relief.

:

"I'm really glad to see you again, Nikki," I thought for a bit, "well, for real," "Same here," Nikki smiled. "Oh! I can show you the mini Oronian I can make," I said in excitement. "You mean a Minoron?" Nikki asked, her smile going away. "Give me a break, I don't remember fully-" "Well, you should now. Do you have any idea what creating a Minoron can do to you?" Nikki asked. "Um..." I bit my lip. "It can create a lot of damage to you. Making a Minoron requires _two_ Oronians. If you attempt it by yourself, it would cause a lot of pain. If you do so numerous of times, your Minoron will slowly become weaker, and so will your spark, due to the piece gathering material that's unnecessary for your full spark. In which case, you will go offline much faster,"

"I didn't know that..." I said with wide optics. "You used to," Nikki said, then shakes her head at me, "I still don't know how you forgot so much over the years..."

"To be honest, I don't either..." I said as I stared at the floor in worry.

:


	20. Chapter 20

"Can you give me a summery of our mission, Nikki? This was a short notice after all," I said while wiping the dust off of my forearm. "Ratchet detected a peculiar signal from somewhere near the base. He said it's reading was similar to our technology," Nikki turns to see me coughing from dust excessively, rolling her optics, "it's important for us to retrieve whatever was detected before the Decepticons, or this MECH do so," "Maybe this Oronian is a bratty one and they will have trouble with it and give it to us," I said, letting out a yawn. "Look who's talking. How can you be so sure if this is an Oronian. Most of the residents of our planet have been wiped out, I'll be slagged if there are any more left," Nikki said.

"Have you always been in a non-cheerful mood?" I said with a sigh. Nikki quickly shushed me and climbed a short rock wall in a stealthily way. Once she makes it at the top, she beckons me up and I follow, having trouble along the way. "I see a pod, but it looks like it's been opened," Nikki says in worry. I let out a lazy like groan, "Phew. So, we're too late?" "That's not possible. We only received the signal five minutes ago. Whatever was in that could have gotten out and still around-"

"I've found you, my love!" Something jumps onto my faceplate, covering my view. I let out a scream and try to get the thing off. "Idiot! Don't let go of the-!" I fall backwards and land onto the ground below. "-ledge..." Nikki sighed. I manage to grab what was on me and throw it away from my faceplate. Nikki slides down the rock wall and lands next to me, "Ariona, are you alright?" "Peachy," I wiped the side of my mouth.

"Hey, why did you do that?" What jumped on me asked. "It's because you attacked me-! By the ancients!" I screamed, seeing the assaulter. It was non other than a Scraplet with bright yellow optics and dark gray figure. "Hurry, kill it!" I bare out my blades and formed a cannon with them. Nikki's arm turns into a crossbow and aims it at the Scraplet. "No, no, wait! I'm sorry!" The Scraplet shouts out, covering his faceplate. "It talks..?" I said in shock. "The more intelligent, the more it's an evil genius," Nikki said. "I have the intelligence not to consume everything on sight. I am Steel of the planet Oronion," The Scraplet bows at us a bit. "...It's even worse," Nikki said.

"Hold on, hold on! Can't you guys give me a break!" The Scraplet, Steel shouts. "I think he's harmless, Nikki. A regular Scraplet would have jumped and gobble before asking questions," I said, disarming my weapon. "Oh, this thing that literally hugged your faceplate?" Nikki rolled her optics, but disarmed her weapon anyway, "Your right. He did say he was from Oronion..."

"Yes, I'm completely harmless!" Steel says while jumping a bit. He crawls over to me and climbs up my leg, arm, and sits on my shoulder. "You are the sweetest female I've ever met," Steel rubs his head against my cheek. "Whoa whoa, none of that," Nikki says. "I think he's cute," I smiled. Nikki crossed her arms, cocking an optic ridge at me, then sighed, "We've found what we've came for. Let's look around for the seed a bit before going back to the base,"

"Whoa, check out that flashy vehicle," Steel nods his head towards the road. We all look to see the Decepticon, Knock Out. "Will it be easy to look for the seed with him on our tailpipes?" I asked sarcastically. "Certainly not," Nikki replied sarcastically. I let out a yawn, "I don't feel like fighting," "Are you kidding me?" Nikki sighed. "We have to make a break for it before the Decepticon catches us on radar!" Steel said. "You're not a big help in this," Nikki said.

"He's right, We're done for the job. Plus, he hasn't even detected us yet, hasn't attacked yet," I said. "Then we have the upper hand," Nikki said. "I don't want to fight..." I said again. Nikki narrows her optics at me, then her expression became calm. "Even though it's strange to do, you're right. Let's go," Nikki activated her skates and was off back towards the base. I looked over my shoulder to see Knock Out driving away. I shake my head at myself before activating my skates and following Nikki. "By the way, Steel. What do you mean by "love"?" Nikki asked. "Oh, that. It was merely a favorite greeting of mine," Steel answered. Nikki lets out an annoyed sigh.

:

"Are you sure that thing wont attack?" Ratchet asked, cautious of Steel. "I'm positive he wont attack," I said with a smile. "I am grateful for not being shot at," Steel says with a nod. "A very interesting find..." Optimus says as he cocks an optic ridge at Steel. I watch Ratchet walk towards the computer, "I believe that Steel can be of use to us in the near future. We can already trust him enough for not stuffing himself with us," I smiled up at Optimus. "I will give this Steel a chance," Optimus says.

"Optimus," Our attention turns to Ratchet, "our scanners have detected a Decepticon energy profile, but it's..ancient,"

"The past has a way of catching up with the present, Ratchet," Optimus says. "Time for investigation," I said with a smirk.

:

_"Our mission is to look for another seed similar to the one that one of our Oronian ancestors had found on Earth. This seed will give life back to our planet. This task has been performed before, so we can do it again. Please, let's bring life back to our home,"_ Nikki's favor rings inside my processor as we exit out of the ground bridge.

"Why is _he_ coming along?" Arcee asked, eying Steel on my shadow once we've arrived at the old Decepticon warship that crashed onto Earth. "He wouldn't stay quiet," I said, "plus, who could resist this little guy?" Arcee rolled her eyes at me. "It looks like someone's been here," Bulkhead said, looking at the makeshift hole that was on the ground. "Autobots, remain caution," Optimus orders as he steps inside the hole that leads to the ship underground. "Is it just me, or has the missions lately have something to do with dark and narrow places? Karma's coming back to bite me on the skidplate," I sighed and followed the Autobots inside.

I land on metal and catch Steel before he hits the floor. "Nice place," I commented sarcastically, seeing the rusted up, dusty walls of the ship. I followed the others around inside the ship to find anything that might have caused the reading. I blinked, noticing a familiar voice that belonged to Starscream, "Airachnid, that is an order! I am your commanding officer!" "Someone's mad," I raised an optic ridge.

We all turned a corner and came to a stop, making me bump into Bumblebee. I apologize, and catch something at the corner of my optic. I turned my head and see a female Cybertronian, who looks like a spider. "Airachnid!" Arcee says in surprise. "Surrender," Optimus demands. Airachnid hisses at us before crawling away. Arcee goes after her. "Airachnid, you traitor!" Starscream shouts. We follow behind Arcee and watched as Airachnid drills through the earth to escape from us. I stopped in front Starscream, who was tied up in a webbing.

Arcee doesn't hesitate to climb through the hole Airachnid has formed. "Arcee, wait!" Optimus calls out. "Let's hurry," I said before turning around and tripping over Starscream's foot. "Oof!" I collided to the floor and Steel slides out of my hand. "What do we do with this?" Steel asked after fixing himself. "Keep him down," Optimus says before running back to the entrance we used. "With pleasure," Bulkhead pounds a fist into his palm. Starscream flinched on the spot. "I think he meant to keep him from having the upper hand, Bulkhead," I said. _'I can't believe you said that,'_ Bumblebee beeped in surprise.

"He can't really do much in his current state," I mention the webbing. "Fine," Bulkhead picks Starscream up by the webbing and starts to lead him out of the ship. Bumblebee and I helped him on doing so while Steel scurries behind me. When we managed to get out, we meet up with Optimus and Arcee, with no sign of Airachnid around. "Keep moving," Bulkhead snaps at Starscream. "No need to use force," Starscream snaps back. Bulkhead hits Starscream's back, causing him to fall down onto his knees.

"I'll tell you anything you want to know," Starscream said. "Is that right?" Bulkhead asked while chuckling. "and what do you want in return?"

I raised my right cheek at the Decepticon making a confused look. I knew full well how Starscream was usually a coward, but something about his look, and the sound of his voice, made me think twice this time. "I want to be..on your side," Starscream said. I blinked my optics in surprised. _What did he just say?_

"On _our_ side?" Bulkhead laughed, "Yeah right, and I have been _lobbing with The Fallen_," He said sarcastically. "You wouldn't betray the Decepticons," Arcee said, her voice sounding as if what she was hearing was complete nonsense. "_Wouldn't I?_ All they have ever done for me is humiliate me, spy on me, demote me! Megatron even tried to extinguish me in cold blood, and replaced me with that wretched Airachnid! She abandoned me, left me for _scrap!_ So why not rat them out?" Starscrem said.

We all turned around except Bumblebee, who kept an eye on him. "He's telling the truth about Megatron trying to scrap him. I saw it myself," Arcee said. "You're not saying you actually _trust_ Starscream?" Bulkhead said. "Trust him? _Never._ But, this may be the one time chance that our objectives a line," Arcee said. "She does have a point," Steel said with a click. "She does..." I said, glancing over at Starscream. "You're right to be wary, Bulkhead, but I agree with Arcee," Optimus says. "We can use his help to find Airachnid. She's probably somewhere where the other half of the ship crashed," I said, activating my skate, preparing to roll out.

:

I skate along beside the Autobots as Steel clings onto my helm. We came to a stop at a stone arch, the one Starscream had mentioned. Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee came to a stop and transformed into their robot modes. "Well, what do you know," Bulkhead said. "It could still be a trap," Arcee said. Optimus transforms into his robot mode and comes up to us, "Starscream's loyalty to Megatron has always been questionable. If he has truely split from the Decepticons, our prisoner's knowledge of their agendas can make him a valuable ally"

"You don't mean permanently? As in keys to the base and everything?" Bulkhead asked in concern. "We have to tempt fate," I said. "Sometimes tempting fate can be a _bad_ thing," Arcee says. "It may be unlikely for that scenario. But, every sentient being has a right to have an opportunity for redemption," Optimus says. "Even 'Bot killers...?" Arcee asked in anger, "Even Airachnid?"

"Without that hope, we may never achieve lasting piece," Optimus says while furrowing his optic ridges. "...Let's get him out," I say, walking towards the trailer Optimus was carrying in vehicle mode that was holding Starscream inside. Bulkhead walks over to the back and opens up the trailer, "Rise and shine, screamy," Bulkhead says before pulling Starscream out by the feet. Starscream looks around in alert, who was then giving Arcee his attention. "We're here, where's the ship?" She asked.

Starscream remained silent for a bit, "...It's through the arch, among the stones," "I'll go on ahead," I prepare to skate off. "Ariona," Optimus says with a stern voice. "I'll have my cloak on," I said before skating off. Sliding around boulders and such, I find myself facing a large half aircraft, similar to the other Decepticon ship half. I slowed down and deactivate my skates before turning on my invisibility cloak. I grabbed Steel off my helm and set him down to not give anything away.

"Don't make yourself noticeable," I whispered to him. "Of course, of course," Steel said. I slowly make my way up towards the ship, looking at my surroundings to find any sign of Airachnid. I may be invisible, but I still have to be cautious. My ability doesn't affect Cybertronians as they do to humans. I came to a stop, hearing a couple pair of metal clacking against metal. I then hear a disturbance in the air. "Ah!" I hissed before dodging a light blue beam. The action caused my cloak to deactivate. _Scrap! How did she?_

I look down, noticing Steel near my feet. _"Steel! [Steel, you idiot!]"_ I hissed in Oronian language, causing Steel to flinch. "What have we here?" Airachnid lands in front of me. "Ah!" I stumble back and Airachnid uses her spiler-like appendages to catch me. "It's rare to see an Oronian now-a-days. You could be a perfect trophy," Airachnid chuckles, pointing the Immobilizer at me. I start to panic, trying to bare out my blades.

"Let her go!" Steel shouts before launching himself onto Airachnid's faceplate and clings on. "What the!" Airachnid stumbles away from me, letting me go. Airachnid hisses as she grabs Steel and flings him away and he slams into a boulder. I blinked in alert and turn to see Airachnid. Something catches her attention. I look to see what it is and see Optimus, Bulkhead and Bumblebee arriving just in time. "Seems that your friends came to assist you," Airachnid says to me before jumping back onto the ship's half, starting to shoot at the Autobots with the Immobilizer.

Knowing that they've got it under control, I ran over to Steel and picked up the Scraplet. "Steel, are you okay!" I asked in worry. He doesn't reply. "Steel!" I shout. Hearing multiple shots behind me, I turn around to see Bulkhead and Optimus frozen from the Immobilizer. I gasped, looking around, not seeing any signs of Bumblebee or Airachnid. _Where?_

My eyes widen, gasping for breath as I felt something sharp dig into my back. I look down and notice the scar circling my back and stomach starting to reopen. I blinked, realizing. _If Steel really went offline to save me, I wont let him die in vain!_

I let out a scream, baring out my blades and swirled around, barely slicing at Airachnid's stomach. Airachnid gasped, stumbling back. "Big mistake," She hissed, aiming an appendage at my helm. Before she can do anything, a blue laser hits her arm, causing her to blink. I looked to my right along with Airachnid looking at her left. Bumblebee was aiming his cannons at Airachnid and shoots again. Airachnid stumbles back, loosing grip of the Immobilizer and Bumblebee blasts at it. The Immobilizer was turned into pieces.

"You _fool!_" Airachnid shouts at Bumblebee before getting shot at again. Airachnid dodges the shots and transforms into a slim helicopter and flies off. Bumblebee transforms his cannon into a hand, turning to face me and runs to me side, _'Are you alright?'_ Bumblebee beeps in concern. "I'm fine," I sucked my dentals from the pain. I turned to Steel and picked him up, "We need to get back to base. You go find Arcee and Starscream, I'll contact Ratchet for a bridge,"

Bumblebee nods before heading back to where we left Arcee with Starscream. I turn the com-link on, "Ratchet," I flinched from the rush of pain, "we're going to need a bridge back..."

:

"He's going to be alright, no need to worry," Ratchet tells me after reviewing over Steel. "Thank you Ratchet," I said with a relieved smile, "what about the Immobilizer?" "The damage of it looked bad. But, it was a snap to repair and reverse it's effects," Ratchet said, looking over at Optimus and Bulkhead, who were now able to move. "And Arcee?" I asked. "She is rather resilient, for a two wheeler..." Ratchet answered. I looked over at Arcee, who Optimus was currently speaking to. I slowly frown. I hear a groan and I quickly turn to see Steel's optics flashing back online.

"S-Steel!" I said with wide eyes, running over to the side of the Scraplet's berth. He looked so small on a big berth, which amused me a bit. "What happened?" Steel asked, his optics trying to adjust. "You got scrapped by Airachnid to save me...I thank you for that," I answered with a smile. "Really...? Huh..." Steel said, his optics flickered, "Where's your partner?"

"I'm thinking she went out to look for the seed to save our planet," I replied. "The seed? Oh," Steel said. Then, he sighed, "I've noticed how you didn't show so much hatred towards that Starscream guy..." I frowned a bit. Even though Starscream tricked us and attacked Arcee before running away, I still didn't show any emotion related to anger. "Which proves that the Oronian race is one of the most peaceful, those who can never hate and give everyone mercy, unless if forced not to show kind emotions," Steel said with a weak laugh.

"You're good as well, you know that right...?" I asked, tilting my head and smiling a bit. "...Yeah, I guess you're right," Steel replied after a long silence.

:


	21. Chapter 21

"Nikki, we've been looking for the seed sense 3 ante-meridian," I let out a yawn, "Can't we just go get something at KO Burger and head back to base?" "I'm not enjoying this either, Ariona. Don't you want to save our home planet?" Nikki asked. "Of course I do, but I kind of like Earth more," Nikki gives me a look. "If we don't, there wont be anymore Oronian Energon for us to refuel on, and we'll wither up and crumble to dust," Nikki says. I shivered. Nikki has told me about how Oronians reproduce, and how they die.

"I understand how you feel, Nikki. But, we can't tire ourselves out. We still need rest," My inner stomach growls, "and substitute energy," "I'm getting pretty hungry, too," Steel, the Scraplet comments while sitting on my shoulder. "Do you even have a mouth to eat with?" Nikki asks. "Yes," Steel answers simply. "He does," I say. "Alright, whatever," Nikki sighed, "I guess we'll take a break," Steel and I cheered, "I heard Jack was working today, maybe he'll give us a discount," I said with a smile. "I highly doubt about that," Nikki replied.

:

"Hey guys, we're back!" I called out, skating into the Autobot base along with Nikki. "Hey there, squirt," Bulkhead greets me. I made a face at him, then I notice him and Miko sitting in front of the television, which was emitting noises of crowds cheering. _"Give it up for the baddest beast machines on the planet!"_ The television says, striking me with curiosity. I walked over, turn into my human form and climbed up the steps and sat next to Miko, "What are you guys watching?" I take out the vanilla shake I got from KO Burger and take a sip.

"What else? We're watching monster trucks!" Miko replies, then sees the large truck run over a smaller one, crushing it, "Oh right!" My mouth was slightly opened from seeing the car getting crushed. I completely ignore the shake in my mouth and it dripped down onto my lap. "Would you mind lowering the volume...?" Ratchet asked in annoyance. "Hey Ratch, check out this monster truck rally Miko took me to last week," Bulkhead said. "Innocent vehicles battling for the pleasure of human spectators?" Ratchet shivered in disgust, "Blood sport!" I'd have to agree with him, honestly.

"You could be helping out Optimus in the field right now" Ratchet said. "He doesn't need my help searching for some ancient educational..._thing-a-ma-bob_," Bulkhead replied. I blinked in confusion, "What?" Ratchet shakes his head, "The _"thing-a-ma-bob"_ you're referring to is a Cybertronian data cylinder," Ratchet says, pressing a button in front of him. The television was now showing a information map of a cylinder shape. "Hey!" Miko complained along with Bulkhead. _Beats oil gore._

"There is no telling what vast intelligence it may hold," Ratchet says. "A lot of data in a tinder cylinder? Is this like a flash drive for Cybertronians?" I asked. "A tinder cylinder? They don't call it that, idiot," Nikki rolls her optics. "Fine, whatever," I sighed and take another drink from my shake. Ratchet blinked at me before continuing on, "During the golden age, dozens of these cylinders were created, each containing the sum total of Cybertronian knowledge on any subject. When the war broke out, the were scattered to other galaxies, keeping far from Decepticon reach.

"But, finding one _here_, on _Earth_, is the opportunity off-" "Ugh, TMI, dude," Miko interrupts. "Switch it back, I wanna see what happens next!" Bulkhead says. "Oh, come on you guys, I was actually interested into something historical," I whined. "And that's a rare thing," Nikki says. Steel remains quiet on my head. "Ratchet, Decepticon ambush! The cylinder is at risk, we acuire back-up!" Optimus says over the com-link. "Phew, finally, something to let off some steam," I finish my shake and throw the cup into the trash can nearby. "Ariona! That's the third one today!" Nikki says, mentioning the shake.

"So?" I asked. "You're going to make yourself sick!" Nikki shouts. "You had three of those?" Miko gives me a look. "What? Sweet stuff are delicious. Besides, my inner stomach's made of steel, I can handle it," I smiled. Slowly, there was a strange feeling in the lower part of my body and my smile disappears. "Let's get a move on," Bulkhead pounds his fist into his palm and runs over to the bridge opening with Nikki. I take Steel off my head and set him down on the couch, telling him to stay put and I ran over to the stairs. I jump off from the top step and transformed into my robot mode, landing on the floor and running off into the bridge opening.

Stepping through, I find myself in a rock canyon filled with Autobots and Vehicons. Knock Out and Breakdown are here as well, my two _favorite_ Decepticons. I bare out my blades and ran to the nearest Vehicon, slicing it up into two. "Ariona, heads up!" I look over to Nikki and see her spinning a Vehicon before throwing it to me. I calculate where the Vehicon was going and put my blades up in the air. The Vehicon flies over my head into my blades and I slice it in half vertically. I shut my optics once I felt Energon drip onto my helm. "Well, that's pleasant," I muttered, wiping the Energon off with my forearm after dis-guarding the blades.

I blinked, hearing someone behind me and quickly turn around. I catch Knock Out's punch with my hand, letting out a small gag from the force. "Ah, Snowflake. It's been a while sense our last run in," Knock Out says with the same sly voice, smirking. "You're not exactly sight for sore eyes," I reply back, using full force to push him back and back flip. I land next to Nikki and bare out my blades. "_Run in?_" Nikki asked with a raised optic ridge, overhearing our small conversation. "I'd rather not talk about it," I say bluntly. "What do you mean _"not talk about it"_? What did you guys-?" "Vehicon, twelve o'clock," I interrupt, putting my blades together and shoot at a Vehicon to our right. Nikki eyes me before running off to take down more 'Cons.

I then caught something in my sights: A cylinder. _Must be the tinder cylinder old bot was talking about._ "Autobots! We must not let the data cylinder fall into Decepticon hands!" I hear Optimus say. I stare at the cylinder intentionally for a bit before making a break towards it. _"Ah!"_ Something slams into me from the left, grabbing me as I was sent flying yards away from the cylinder. "Oof!" I land on my side with something on my other side. I quickly shake my head and look up to see Knock Out.

"Are you trying to tempt me?" I asked, baring out my blades again, slightly stabbing Knock Out on the chest plate. Knock Out leans away from me, seeing the results of the damage. "Look at what you did to-!" Knock Out was interrupted when my foot kicks him at the forehead, knocking him back a couple of feet away from me. I try to get up, but my right arm wouldn't follow. I look down and notice my blade lodged deep inside the Earth's crust. "Slag!" I mutter to myself and look up back at Knock Out to see him get up and glare at me. I gasped and try to dislodge my right blade from the ground.

_"Ugh! [Come on, you stupid thing!]"_ I hissed in frustration. I gave one last pull and my blade gives out. _"Ah!"_ My arm causes me to whirl around, almost punching Knock Out, who manages to catch my fist in his hand and used the other one to punch my face. This punch was hard, too. _Slag!_ I fell onto my back, feeling my sore face. I blinked once I felt the slight dent on my cheek. I clenched my dentals and furrowed my optic ridges, looking up at Knock Out. He stood over me as he smirked, his right arm turning into a circular saw.

My optics widen and I quickly put my blades together to form a cannon. I mostly aimed my cannon at the circular saw, watching it slowly turn. My inner stomach tightened again, slightly fearing the saw. Knock Out raised and optic ridge at this, no longer smirking. Seeing Bulkhead falling to the ground behind Knock Out, I glanced at him, then back at the saw. I then hear something in the sound waves that made my audio sensors ring a bit. I clicked. _Wait, is that laser shooting from the cylinder?_ I completely turn my attention to Bulkhead wider optics, mouth agape. Knock Out notices this and turns around to see what I was looking at.

The red laser stops emitting from the cylinder, and the sound stops along with it. My audio sensors stop ringing just enough time for me to hear Knock Out finish his sentence. He grabs me at my arm and whirls around, letting me go and aloud me to be hurled across the canyon. I stopped breathing for a couple of minutes once I crash onto Bulkhead's back. I let out a gag, which was louder this time. I kick the ground and somersault off of Bulkhead and land on my back on the ground. _"Ugh...[Ouch...],"_ I groaned, falling limp.

Knock Out walks over to us, picking up the data cylinder, "You really took one for the team, Bulkhead. My team," He smirked before retreating with Breakdown, running into their bridge. _"Ough..." _I cursed in my Oronian language, sitting up and covering my mouth, feeling something come up and go back down. I pushed myself up from the ground and stood upright. Optimus, Arcee, Nikki and Bumblebee ran over to us. "Bulkhead, are you-" "Fine, I don't feel any different," Bulkhead says to Optimus. I vomit out breath, lazily keeping my optics.

:

"Ariona, what happens to you?" Steel asked in worry, seeing the chipped off metal and dents all over my body. The one on my cheek stood out more. "She got a beating from her male friend," Nikki said, patting my back with a slight smirk. "Ha ha, _very_ funny," I scowled at Nikki. Nikki laughs, "You're so cute when you're mad," Nikki pats my head, causing my face to warm up in embarrassment. "Why are you all so cheerful now? You voice sounded angry back at that fight. Are you bi-polar, or something?" I asked. Nikki's smile disappeared, "I'm not bi-polar, just using fake emotion," "_Fake?_" I bit my lip. "And I wasn't mad, just concerned. Take a rest, I'm going back out to look for the seed," Nikki pats my shoulder before using the bridge as an exit.

I let out a sigh, sitting on the crate next to me, "Every time I get somewhat pulverized, she's always concerned about me. I don't get it, I'm not as young as I used to be. I mean, come on, I fought in the Cybertronian war for crying out loud," I used my my knee to hold my arm upright and I place my chin on my hands. "Who're you talking to?" Steel asked. "No one, or you, whichever one makes sense," My lips form a line as I look up at him. Steel shakes his head and jumps down from the railing onto my shoulder pad. I lift my head up from my hands and looked at him from the corner of my optics.

"She's just protective of you, that's why. I even sometimes wonder if you two were mates, with the way she concerns about you," Steel says. "My _what?_" I raised an optic ridge. "Well, uh, don't take my saying seriously. No, wait..." Steel sighed, giving up on how to explain it. I sighed, "Well, I guess I could say Nikki and I are like a family. We look out for each other. Nikki can be considered as the older sister, seeing how over protective she is at times," Steel nods, "Yeah, yeah, that's what I meant to say,"

"So, what are you going to do about this?" Steel's tiny arm stroked the dent on my cheek. "Oronian's have human D'N'A. Over time, our wounds will heal up, of course, some wounds will leave scars," I said. "Oh, right, right," Steel nods in understatement. "...Speaking of which, I don't recall any Scraplets on Oronion. Care to tell me how you came to be?" I asked. "Well, uh..." I waited for an answer. "I guess things will be better explained once time passes," Steel said after a long pause. "Okay...?" I said. "Bulk, what are you doing?" I blinked and looked up, hearing Miko's voice. "What the...?" I breathed out with wide optics.

Bulkhead was using a mop, painting a weird symbol on the wall. I stood up from the crate, walking over to get a closer look, still wearing a surprised expression. "Do you have any idea what this is?" Miko asked me. My gem emits a beam. It stops on the wall and the blue beam becomes wider, going up and down over the symbol, scanning. The beam disappears and my optics flash off. I looked at the results and my optics clicked back on. "No idea, I've never seen anything like this before," I answered. "I'll go get Ratchet," Miko runs off. I narrowed my eyes, trying to read the symbols. But, I failed at attempt once I felt my processor starting to hurt.

"See, did I tell you, or what?" Miko comes back with Ratchet. The doc bot blinks, "That isn't art, it's _science_," Ratchet said with disbelief in his voice. "_Science?_ No wonder I was having trouble trying to figure it out," I said. "We have to tell Optimus. Ariona, bridge everyone back," Ratchet orders.

:

"You see this hotspot here? It's information. Data, living energy," Ratchet explains while pulling up an x-ray of Bulkhead's processor on the screen. "Wait, hold on. It's alive, and it's in Bulkhead's _brain?_" Miko asked in alert. "Kind of sounds like a parasite," Steel comments. "Chill Miko, the data's only inhabiting a fraction of my brain," Bulkhead says, pointing to his helm, "Infinitesimal by neural net densities...wait, how do I know that?" I recover from my stare and wiped the liquid from the side of my mouth, fixing myself.

"Based on what we witnessed from our last battle, the living data must have been programed to eject when it's sensed unauthorized access," Optimus says. "A security measure..." Ratchet says, understanding. "It would have jettisoned heavenward, lost to the stars," Optimus said. "Except it ejected into my brain," Bulkhead says with a smile. "Every 'Con made a grab for it. The cylinder doesn't go off until Miko touches it?" Arcee asked in confusion. "The cylinders are originated from Cybertron's golden age, pre-dating the Autobot and Decepticon vision," Ratchet explained. "So it wouldn't consider any native of Cybertron to be a threat," Optimus adds. "Only alien lifeforms, such as humans," Ratchet looks at me, "And possibly Oronians,"

"When the cylinder activated, my audio sensors were ringing like there were a thousand whistles being blown. Is it just me, or did Cybertron and Oronion not have any friendly terms in the golden age?" I asked with a look of question. _'What about those writings Bulk's painting down?' _Bumblebee beeped in question. "Are we looking at genius, or gibberish?" Arcee asked, tilting her head at the writing on the walls. "I don't wish to falsely rally anyone's hopes, but these equations appear to be the formula," Ratchet says.

"Formula to what?" I blinked. "For a _synthetic_ Energon," Ratchet answered.

Bumblebee fist pumps the air, cheering in beeps, _'Alright!' _"We've hit the mother load?" Arcee asked in excitement. "What? What? I don't understand," I looked around at everyone. "Energon provides our fuel and our ammo," Bulkhead says, looking at me. "I know that, but what's the big hullabaloo?" I asked. "With the short supply of Energon on Earth, this can solve us a lot of problems," Bulkhead says. "...I still don't..." I slowly shake my head. "Such as providing us with the edge to turn the tide of this war," Optimus says. "Or, the key to revitalizing Cybertron," Ratchet says. "_Ooooh! _...I wish that could help me find the seed..." I muttered the last words to myself.

"We've got the goods, and all Megatron got was an empty bucket," Arcee smirked. "How often to I use my noggin to save the day?" Bulkhead smiled at Miko. I tilt my head, slowly shaking my head. _Well, at least it's a good thing for the Autobots..._

_:  
><em>

"Ugh, if I keep hearing Bulkhead yapping out equations, my head is going to explode from overload. Reason one: Science and I don't mix. Reason two: It's coming from _Bulkhead's mouth! _" I continue to walk back and forth from my path, which was slightly dented from constant stomping. "Cheer up, Ariona. It wont last forever," Steel said. "How can I cheer up?" I sighed, lowering my head as I came to a stop, "The Autobots have hope of restoring their home planet while we still have miles of ground to cover to look for one measly orb. It's like a rude punch in the face," I point at my dented cheek, "_Literally... _"

Steel remained quiet, staring at me. I shake my head and continue to walk back and forth, listening to Bulkhead's rambling. "It's still interesting how Bulkhead's mind can hold such knowledge," Steel said. I came to a stop._ He can't, it's too much for one bot_. "Steel!" I turn around, catching the Scraplet's attention, "You said before how the data was like a parasite. How is it?" I asked. "Well, the data was said to be a living thing, and.." "Parasites usually eat away at their hosts, and if Bulkhead is carrying was supposedly a live data source, it means the data can take over Bulkhead's mind and wipe it clean!" I realized what measures we have taken.

There was a sudden loud noise and I quickly cover my ears. I look over at Bulkhead and see Miko with her guitar, "I hate it when she does that," I mumbled. Steel let out a 'hmm'. I blinked again, hearing the bridge turn on. I look up to see Miko lure Bulkhead through the bridge. "Ah-!" I held out my hand and take two steps to follow them, then stopped. I lower my hand to the side, walking over to the bridge control panel. "What are you doing? You're not going to follow them? What if trouble finds them?" Steel asked, following me. "Trouble always finds us. And, I'm just minding my own business," I pull the switch up, deactivating the bridge.

:

"So, it turns out there's no win-win for any side?" Steel asked. "Guess not. I thought we've lost Bulkhead for a second there. I felt...scarred," I said, leaning against the crate. The data Bulkhead had was ejected into the sky when Miko did it again, what she did to activate the data cylinder. "It's just as they say: Everything that appears to be a dream, really is one," I say. "Not always," Steel says. "Hm, guess you're right," I sighed. I remained silent for a bit. "Do you really think there's really hope of reviving a planet?...Steel?" I look down near my hand, seeing the Scraplet gone.

"...Steel...?"

:


	22. Chapter 22

"Come on, Ariona, get up," Nikki says as she bangs onto the top of my helm. I groaned, swatting at her with my hand before I sat up from the ground, lazily opening my optics and looked as if I was intoxicated, which of course, I wasn't. "We need to go searching again," Nikki says. "Five more hours?" I asked. "No," Nikki answered. "Oh come on! We probably need a whole world population of help to find this seed thing. What is to say this thing no longer exists?" I scoffed. "That's just the way it is," Nikki said, "It's better to find out," She starts fixing up her crossbow a bit before disarming it. I remained quiet, forming my lips into a hard line.

"...You're never usually this quiet when being woken up by someone. By now, you would be screaming your head off like a cornered animal," Nikki raised an optic ridge at me and placed a hand on her hip, "what's up with you?" I shake my head, "I'm just drowsy, that's all," I answered plainly. Nikki shakes her head, sighing. "Oh, Nikki," Nikki looks at me, "I found this," I pressed an invisible button below my gem, making my metal skin break apart in a small circle and a cable pulls out. I grabbed it and showed it to Nikki, who's optics were wide and her lips formed a hard line. "What's this?" I asked. "N-Nothing. Just, p-put it back," Nikki waves her hand in front of her as she looks away, her cheeks slightly pink. I blinked, shrugging my shoulders and did as I was told.

:

With no success of finding the seed, Nikki and I arrived back at base. Nikki kept questioning about how I remained silent during the whole mission. I simply answered: "It's nothing, just drowsy,". To be honest, I don't know what's been up with me either. The questionable headache made me worry. Of course, sense my robotic figure is symbiotic to that of a human, it's completely normal. "...Why don't you check yourself in with Ratchet. You may still have malfunctions from the last time you got severely ill. I'll continue on the search on my own," Nikki says. Oh, that's right, the flu...

"But I'm-" Nikki leaves before I could finish my sentence, "-fine..." I rolled my optics and make my way to Ratchet, who was currently testing the synthetic Energon he was able to create from Bulkhead's writings. "Is it safe?" I asked once I was closer. Ratchet blinks from my sudden appearance, "No. It still needs testing," He replied. I stared at the synthetic Energon, not liking it's green goo-like color. "Isn't this cool, Ariona?" The boy, Raf asked. "Yeah. Cool," I said with an uncertain expression.

I blinked once the alarms went off. "There's Energon on the move," Arcee said. "Again?" Bulkhead asked in annoyance. "Their recent activity suggests a familiar pattern," Optimus turns to us, "The Decepticons are desperately searching for new deposits to mine. Autobots-!" "Optimus," Ratchet interrupts the leader, "If one of you come back wounded, we wont be able to do much due to our low Energon stock," I looked down, knowing that Ratchet was right. It's not me that I'm concerned about, of course not. Regular Energon from Cybertron isn't exactly a healthy resource for Oronians.

It was my comrades that I'm worried about. Confronting Decepticons can easily get one of us offline without any source to get us back on our feet. "Understood," Optimus says calmly, but I could tell that he was worried as well, "activate the ground bridge. Autobots, roll out!" He orders. Optimus, along with Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee head out through the ground bridge. Once it closes, my right hand comes up to grab my left upper arm, squeezing it. "They'll be alright, Ariona," Ratchet reassures, seeing my worried expression, "I hope..."

"Yeah..." I replied, letting out a long drawn out sigh. "Ariona," I hear a familiar male voice and blinked once I felt something jump onto my shoulder. "S-Steel! Where have you been?" I asked in surprise. "I've done my part of being an Oronian and helped on finding the seed. I myself wish to see my own planet blooming in life once again," Steel's voice says, indicating a smile. I smile back at him, "I'm glad you're doing your part," "Hey, what's the doc doing?" Steel asks, blinking optics. I blinked as well and turned to see Ratchet injecting the synthetic Energon into his arm. My optics widen, trying to comprehend what was going on.

The jar drops to the ground, shattering and Ratchet falls backwards onto the ground, going unconscious. "Ratchet!" I shout, running over to his side and kneeling down next to him, causing Steel to be nearly flanged off of my shoulder. "What's the deal?" Steel asked. "I don't know. But Ratchet wouldn't do something like this!" I explained in worry. "Ariona, what happened?" Raf asked, running towards us. "I don't know!" I repeated in a louder tone. Raf climbs up onto Ratchet, fixing his glasses once he does. "Ratchet!" Raf shouts. I leaned in close, biting my lip and furrowing my optic ridges together. "Wake up!" Raf tries another time. I lowered my head a bit, not taking my optics off of Ratchet's faceplate. I perk up once I see his optics slowly open.

I lean back once Ratchet starts to sit up with a groan, "How is it that such small beings can be so loud...?" "Are you hurt?" Raf asked, stumbling back. "I'm fine..." Ratchet moves his arm, looking surprised. I pulled my head forward slightly, tilting my head in confusion. "I'm more than fine," Ratchet raises up his wrist to look at his readings, "Energy efficiency is of thirty percent? Motor functions optimal?" He lets out a small laugh, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Any word from the others?" He asked, looking at Raf and I. "N-No... Ratchet?" I looked up at him, gaining his attention, "Was that really necessary...? You know..." I eyed the broken jar on the ground which was empty from synthetic Energon. "Don't worry, I'm alright," Ratchet says, patting my shoulder before walking over to the computer.

"Ratchet! Prepare an emergency ground bridge at Arcee's coordinates!" Optimus ordered. "I'm on it. Arcee, decelerate and return to base!" Ratchet says through the com-link. "Save it, Ratchet, I'm too close!" Arcee replied. "Don't be a fool!" Ratchet retorts. "Looks like things are getting out of hand," Steel says. "Her actions may be non-responsible, but she's right, these guys need the Energon," I said. "Strange," Steel says, picking at one of my antennas. I shake him off, bothered by the action. A beeping sounds off. "She's hurt," Ratchet mutters. "What?" I said in alert. Ratchet uses the coordinates to open a bridge and turns to me. "Man the ground bridge," He turns and runs through the ground bridge. "Ratchet..." I mutter in worry. Raf and I exchanged looks before I closed the bridge after giving Ratchet the chance to go through.

:

"What happened?" Raf asked as the Autobots returned through the ground bridge. I was relieved that everyone was alright. "I only saw the glory aftermath, but I heard that the doc was a one bot wrecking machine!" Bulkhead answered with a wide smile. "That's-" My optics flicker in disbelief along with a single chuckle, "-That's kind of hard to believe Bulk. No offense, Ratchet," "Hey, little fella!" Ratchet picks Raf up, bouncing him before setting him back down. "Whoa. Who gave him the happy gas?" I asked with wide optics. "_Alright_, what's your secret?" Arcee asked. "No secret," Ratchet smiled, "Just a little something I'd like to call: Synthetic Energon," Ratchet tosses a green jar to Arcee, who catches it with ease.

"From the data Bulkhead transcribed?" Arcee asked with a wide smile, "I thought the formula was-" "Incomplete? Not anymore," Ratchet replied with an amused chuckle. "So Ratchet makes a better tough guy than I'm a smart guy?" Bulkhead asked. "Not that I doubt Ratchet's abilities, but I don't really like the green color of that stuff," I commented. "Ratchet, I question the wisdom of using yourself as a test subject," Optimus says after examining the jar of synthetic Energon. "Optimus, you didn't see Ratchet out there. He was an _overdrive!_ We should all try this stuff!" Arcee says. I reached up to take the jar from Optimus, who willingly aloud me to and I stared at the green liquid.

"Or give Ratchet more so we can take a vacation!" Bulkhead chuckles. "I agree that the initial results seem promising..but I prefer further testing confined to machines. _Not_ Autobots," Optimus says to Ratchet, "Outnumbered we may be, old friend, but we need a warrior in the laboratory, more than another on the field," I move the jar around in my hands. I turn it so the jar top was facing me and I pop it open. "Ariona," I jumped from the sound of my name and a drop of synthetic Energon got on my hand. I quickly close the jar. A sizzling sound was heard and I looked at my hand again. The drop was seeping down past my metallic skin, down to my flesh part. _"Ah!"_ I squeaked, waving my hand to make the stinging pain go away. _Even this kind of Energon is unstable for Oronians..._ I looked on my shoulder to see Steel, who stared at my hand without saying another word.

:

"So, you think that synthetic stuff Ratchet whipped up is dangerous?" Nikki asked as she walked alongside me through the hall. "To us it is. I'm not sure of what it does to Cybertronians, though. Seems like it increases their power," I replied. "It even made the old guy powerful," Steel says, clicking his appendages together on my shoulder. "How can green ick give someone more power?" Nikki asks with a scoff. Suddenly, something blasts through the wall and flies across the hall and hits the other wall. I stood there frozen on my spot, staring at Bulkhead, my jaw dropping. "Need you more proof?" Steel asked the flabbergasted Nikki.

"Hooah!" I hear Ratchet say from the room Bulkhead was thrown from. "What was _that?_" Arcee asked from behind us. Bulkhead lets out a groan as a reply. Ratchet steps up to the hole he made from using Bulkhead, "You have competition, Bulk. I'm a bit stronger than I used to be," Ratchet walks over the rubble into the hall, "Also a bit faster, ha!" Ratchet sykes Bumblebee out by throwing a fist at him. "Think you can take me, muscle car?" He asked. _'Uh, maybe another time...'_ Bumblebee beeps anxiously, waving his hands in front of him. "Wimp," Ratchet mutters and walks by, looking at Arcee, Nikki, and I and makes a clicking sound, "How's it hummin'?" He winks and continues walking by.

"Did he just?" Arcee asks. "Stronger, faster and studlier..." Bulkhead says. "Well then," Nikki raises an optic ridge, "Ariona?" I recover from my confused and surprised look, "Huh?" "Don't you think he's being a bit of...a back engine?" Steel asked. "I don't know, but that was the weirdest experience of my life..." I asked, raising up my left cheek to make another confused look.

"Looks like the 'Cons hit another vein," Arcee says as the computer started beeping. "Autobots, roll out!" Optimus ordered. "Hey, hey. Should we wait for our secret weapon?" Bulkhead asked. "The jam?" I asked. Nikki gives me a look. "This mission is unlikely to require medical expertise," Optimus replied. "But you may never know when you need more firepower," Ratchet says from behind Optimus, "Bumblebee can handle ground bridge duty," _'Alright then?'_ Bumblebee beeps. "It's time to put some hurt in those Decepticons," Ratchet says.

Bumblebee activates the ground bridge. "Optimus?" I asked once I walk up to him. He looks down at me, giving a look of question. "...Never mind," I shake my head, running through the bridge along with the others. Nikki, though, stayed behind along with Steel, Bumblebee and Raf. Once I made it through, I stepped to the side to make room for the others. Ratchet, however, continued running down the slope of a mountain. The others hesitated before following behind. I let out a sigh and ran along with them. Stopping before the end of the slope, we hid behind boulders and catching Decepticon miners and Vehicons in our sights.

"The signal's weak. They might of hit a vein, but they might not find much of an Energon pulse," Bulkhead says as he looks at the scanner. "I take some comfort to the fact that Megatron seems desperate to find the stuff as we are," Arcee says. "Do you two _always_ talk this much during these missions?" Ratchet asked before jumping off, transforming into his vehicle mode and drives down the slope more. "Wow, talk about crabby," I said. The rest of us continue to follow. Noticing how we were already spotted, I activate my skates and bend down a bit to catch speed, sliding down the slope. I kick the ground before hitting the bottom and land, somersaulting forward and standing straight up. Dis-activating my skates, and bare out my blades and start slashing Vehicons around me. Within minutes, we all take the 'Cons down. I breathed out and dis-guard my blades, trying to ignore the new dents and scratches I have received.

**"N-No!"** I hear someone scream. My optics widen and I exchange looks with Arcee, who was nearby. We all climbed the other side of the small valley and stop at the top, seeing Ratchet standing over a 'Con miner. "That's all I know!" The miner cries out. Ratchet's hands transform into blades as he prepared to slice at the miner. I let out a gasp and Optimus runs at full speed, "Ratchet!" He makes it in time to grab Ratchet's arm before he could do anything, "_What_ are you doing...?" I ran to them along with Arcee and Bulkhead. The miner stumbles to his feet and glances at us, mostly a me, which gave me the time to see the damage he had already received from Ratchet before running away. My expression remained shocked.

"Getting results," Ratchet snaps back to answer Optimus. "And breaking protocol," Optimus adds harshly, "That was a Decepticon _miner_. _Servant_ class, _not_ warrior class,"

"_Oh_, and let me guess, I'm just the _**medic**_," Ratchet narrows his optics. "Autobots do not inflict harm unless all other options are exhausted. It is what separates us from the Decepticons..." Optimus narrows his own optics. "Pfft," Ratchet scoffs, "Is this really the time for another _lecture_, Optimus? You didn't just happen to discover Megatron's current location, did you? _**Well, I did!**_ And do you know where there's a stockpile of raw Energon right for the taking! ? **_I do!_**" "Come on, Ratchet. Calm it down!" Bulkhead gently places a hand on Ratchet's elbow. Ratchet slaps his hand away, "_'Calm'_ is the _last_ thing we need! _'Calm'_, is what cost us _Cybertron!_" Ratchet turns away. My head twitched, not knowing what to do in this situation. Right now, right here, was the doctor who was usually grumpy, but calm himself. The Ratchet I'm seeing right now, the Ratchet I've known for a while, was now bursting out like a wild fire, spreading his anger after the spark was ignited.

"The 'Cons have a warship, _**an army!**_ All this Energon scouting, you think Megatron isn't gearing enough for something big!" Ratchet shouts, "We're squandering our resources, chasing after his **_crumbs_**, when we need to be hitting him hard, and hitting him _**now!**_ Precisely, where it _**hurts!**_" I flinched from Ratchet's hoarse voice, scrunching my face up in sorrow. "A direct assault on the Decepticons will only provoke injury for all of us. And lead to incalculable loses," Optimus says, "_I will not endanger human lives..._"

"And you seem to not have any problem endangering ours. Just ask Cliffjumper, _oh wait_, _**he couldn't be here today!**_" Ratchet snaps. _**"That's it!"**_ Arcee growls, about to jump Ratchet but was then held back by Bulkhead. As my response to Ratchet's sentence, I glared darkly at him, my expression still filled with sorrow. "You know what's your problem, Optimus? For such a big strong 'Bot, you're _**soft**_. You didn't pound Megatron into scrap when you had the chance! _**Many**_ chances in fact!" Ratchet shouts. Optimus closes his optics for a second before reopening them, his lips almost forming a hard line, "I'm afraid the synthetic Energon, has impaired your judgment, old friend. I am confining you to base until further notice," Optimus activates his com-link, "Bumblebee, bridge us back,"

I lowered my head a bit, thinking for a bit. The ground bridge opens behind us and Ratchet holds up his hands in defeat, "_Fine_," He makes his way towards the bridge without saying another word. I ignore the others as Bulkhead goes to the bridge as well. But then, a figure sprints through, taking Bulkhead and throwing him back at Optimus. My optics widen, seeing Ratchet transform and zooming away. Not chasing after him, we all go through the ground bridge and arrive back at base. I pull the switch to turn the bridge off and meet up with the others to the computer. "I can't get a fix on his coordinates," Arcee says. "That bogas Energon must be scrambling his signal," Bulkhead says. "Keep trying. We've got to find Ratchet. Before he finds Megatron," Optimus says.

"What's going on?" Nikki asks when she was near me. I sighed, "It's Ratchet. H-He's not himself at all, he's-" I bit my lip. "That synthetic Energon must have been dangerous for Cybertronians as well. I've noticed the doc changing as well," Nikki adds. "...He didn't change," I said. "What?" Nikki asks in confusion. "He didn't change... That synthetic Energon, it didn't just increase his powers...it also made him out more..it was like he was saying things that he was keeping inside his spark, just bottling up, waiting to pop like a balloon..." I lowered my head as Nikki places a hand on my shoulder, hearing my slight sobs and seeing my optics starting to liquefy, "I just..didn't think about it at all, it's just-...Ratchet..." I shake my head and covered my faceplate with a hand, letting out shaking breathes as I tried to calm myself down.

"...Ariona?" Nikki calls my name softly. "I'm fine," I let out a shaken sigh, "Just lost it for a bit," Nikki smiles slightly, which is a rarity, "Everyone has things bottled up inside them, all living beings. Whether it be a child keeping to itself about it's past, or an adult about it's act of thievery. Everyone has something they're afraid to share out," I wiped my optics a bit, knowing that she was right. I let out a sigh again and smile a weak one, "Thanks for being here for me," "Don't get used to it," Nikki pats my back, her smile growing wider. The alarm goes off once again. "We got his signal!" Arcee says, "It's back online,"

"Bumblebee," Optimus looks down at the yellow 'Bot. _'Understood,'_ Bumblebee beeps with a nod, activating the ground bridge using Ratchet's location. "Autobots, roll out!" Optimus orders while running towards the bridge opening. I was about to go along with them until Nikki grabs at my shoulder more firmly this time. I stop and swirled around to look at her with a dumbfounded look. "They can take care of it," She answers me. I squint my optics shut, turning around before opening them to see the ground bridge shutting off.

:

"Ariona, calm down, he's going to be fine," Steel comments, seeing me pace back and forth, glancing at the severely injured Ratchet on the berth. "You're not the one who's been in this type of situation _twice_," I snapped. "Okay, okay, take it easy. The big guy said he will heal properly, right?" Steel asked. I sighed, "You're right...I just don't want to lose another comrade," I said. "Who was that guy, anyway? You sometimes talk about him, the red guy," Steel says. "_Cliffjumper_," I snapped, realizing my tone on vocal and calmed myself down, "He was like a brother to me...losing him wasn't really the easy thing for me...Ratchet in this case is like losing a..." I flutter my optics in frustration, "It's like losing a father or something like that. At least a father figure, one that doesn't have the thought of eating your own child,"

Steel shivers, "I'm glad I was only an orphan," I shake my head, sighing as I sat on my crate. Steel jumps down onto my head and crawls down onto my shoulder. "I wonder why Nikki didn't let you go to help rescue doc-bot," Steel says. "She said they had it under control. And she was right," I replied. "Have you ever thought that she thought you would just slow them down?" Steel asked. I blinked in surprise, "What? No, Nikki would never say-" I then remember her sentence she had said to me.

_"Everyone has things bottled up inside them, all living beings,"_

I shake my head, "She would never..."

"Ariona?" I gasped, looking up to see Nikki standing in front of me, "Who are you talking about?" I hesitated, glancing at my shoulder to see Steel no longer there, "U-Uh, no one, just, um, remembering this movie I watched! It was very emotional, I was at the edge of my seat. I'm still surprised from it," I laughed nervously. "Yeah..." Nikki fixes herself, "Anyway, how are you feeling? Is that headache gone?" She asked.

"I'm..fine," I answered, my smile slowly depleting, "Absolutely fine..."

:


	23. Chapter 23

"It was written in the Covenant of Primus, that when the forty seven spheres align, perpetual conflict will reach to it's highest point upon a world forged from chaos. And, the weak shall perish in the shadow of a rising darkness," Optimus says as he stares at the computer screen, reading. "And the skies raining fire?" Arcee asked. "It goes without say, it's a prophecy after all," "I say it's a load of hooey," Bulkhead scoffs. "I kind of agree. This all seems so sudden," I say. I wasn't even mentioned to about something called "Covenant of Primus", but for some reason, the name gives off a nostalgic feeling.

"I was always assuming the ancients were referring our home planet. But, being that Cybertron has been dark, for eons..." Ratchet shakes his head. "And considering what has befallen this planet sense Megatron's arrival here," Optimus adds. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, we've known these superstitions for ages, and we've never given them a second thought," Bulkhead says. "Why wild animus rumblings now?" Arcee asked. "Because the planetary alignment, to which the prophecy prefers to, is nearly upon us," Optimus answers. "And, it would seem it's end point..is Earth," Ratchet says, looking over the computer screen.

_A prophecy that reads dark times ahead...?_ I exchanged glances with Nikki, who remained quiet as she listened. Steel, who was perched on my shoulder, was slightly shivering silently. "Uh..." Bulkhead blinks, "Crazy coincidence," He chuckles nervously. "How long are we talking...?" Arcee asked, her voice nervous as well. "A few days. At most," Ratchet replies. "So, you're saying that..." I couldn't finish my sentence, not having the spark to do so. "However unsettling this may be, I am more concerned about those who might believe, that the prophecy speaks to them alone," Optimus says.

Nikki looks over at me again, noticing myself shaking a bit. "Ariona?" She whispers in worry, walking closer to me. I flinched, turning my head and looking at her with a stunned expression. "Are you okay?" She asked. "Y-Yeah. Just a l-little shaken," I replied. Nikki makes a face that was saying she was a bit skeptical, but takes my word for it. "I'll go look for the seed, alright. just stay here until I get back," Nikki says as she starts to walk to the base's main entrance. "Why do you always say that? Don't you need any help? I'm an Oronian, too, you know," I said. "You'll only slow me down," I froze from her sentence. "B-Because you're needed with the Autobots. Besides, you said yourself once that you didn't believe the seed existed, right?" Nikki asked with a frown. I blinked, I had completely forgotten about that.

Without saying another word, Nikki activates her skates and then leaves. I stood there for a moment, looking down. _Did I really say that? I don't remember... Come to think of it, I've been having a hard time trying to remember my time on my home planet and the war on Cybertron...it's like a vague memory..._

I shake the thoughts from my head once I felt Steel shift on my shoulder. "It's alright, Ariona," Steel reassures me. "Yeah...alright..." I replied in a mutter. "Hey Ari," Bulkhead says and pats my back roughly, making me flinch a bit, "Do you wanna come with Bee and me to get the kids?" He asks. "Nah. You guys can go on ahead," I replied with a smile, covering my sad expression. "Suit yourself," Bulkhead said, transforming into vehicle mode and leaving the base along with Bumblebee. "I'm going somewhere, too," Steel says. "What?" I turned to look at her, "Where?"

"I like to explore. See you later," Steel then jumps up, clinging to the ceiling and vanishes to somewhere. I blinked my optics before letting out a sigh and lowering my head in distraught. "Hey," I was starting to get slightly annoyed and turned around to see Arcee. "Um, what?" I asked with a confused expression. "I've noticed how you've been a bit upset lately. All of this is probably not helping, isn't it?" Arcee asked. I didn't say a word, but reply with a small nod. "Even though I may be wrong, we'll get through it," Arcee says with a comforting smile. I let out a breath, smiling back, "I needed that," Arcee smiled at me before transforming and leaving to go get Jack.

:

"What's this?" I asked, looking over the children's shoulders to see Raf's laptop screen of strange pictures. "A site where people post up articles and pictures, which are clearly fake," Jack answers as he rolls his eyes. Raf scrolls down to another picture. "Fake or not, they look horrifying," I shivered. "Just a kid in a costume," Jack reassures me. Raf scrolls down, "Oh, hold it, Raf," Jack says. I look at the picture and see a familiar yellow car. "Is that?" I blinked. "The camera sure loves Bee," Jack smiled. "What can you do? When you're a super stare, you're paparazzi baked," Miko says before dropping down onto the couch.

"Is that Bumblebee?" Ratchet asked in surprise, looking over at us from his work. Rarity if you ask me. "On a conspiracy website, where users post evidence of close encounters. But, we have it under control. We just scrub.." Raf starts to do some of his trusty hacking, "and replace, Bee with..."

"Mars cat sayz, take me to your feeder," A funny dressed up cat says in the computer. I make a look. Ratchet makes a heartily chuckle, then blinks. All of us were silent for a bit. "Did Ratchet actually...laugh?" Miko blinks. Ratchet makes an embarrassed expression and returns to his look. I let out a small giggle and smiled widely. "Hey, um, Optimus, you wanna see something funny?" Jack asked. "No," Optimus replies bluntly. The kids make disappointed expressions and I try to hold in a laugh.

"Don't take it personally," Arcee says, "Primes are built that way," "I've never seen Optimus laugh, cry, or lose his cool," Bulkhead says. "While Optimus certainly keeps his emotions in check, I've known him far more than any of you have," Ratchet says, "He was different before he was made a Prime," "Optimus wasn't always a Prime?" Raf asked. "That's true," I said. "On Cybertron, one isn't born into greatness. One must earn it," Ratchet explains. "So, how was Optimus different before a became a Prime?" Miko asked, "Are we talking like, party animal?" "No, no. Optimus was more like... Jack," Ratchet says. I blinked, turning my head to look at the boy. "W-What?" Jack fixes his hair out of embarrassment, "I'm nothing like Opti-" "Prime!"

Everyone sets thier attention to the computer screen, who Agent William Fowler was on. "Fowler. I haven't seen this guy in a while," I said in surprise. "Those tech heists my apartment's been tracking, we'd figured it was MECH, due to their stealth tactics. Until moments ago, a security feat at the Pentagon particle collider, captured this," Fowler sends a picture of a kneeling Soundwave. I blinked, remaining silent. "Raf can swipe that out for you with a funny cat," Miko offers jokingly. "the 'Con without a face made off with a cutting edge, base conductor. Here's a list of what we've confirmed stolen to date," Fowler shows us a list.

"Plasma injector, neutron shield, tesseract?" Ratchet reads the list out loud. "What would the Decepticons need with this stuff?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "They're planning to build a second space bridge. And there's only one missing piece to complete it," Ratchet answers, "That is, an ample power source," _That's obviously bad, isn't it...?_

_:  
><em>

I remained seated on the crate for most of the night, thinking about my memories. The thing is, I can barely remember know my memories from my time on Oronion. I know they're there, but I can't remember, and it's been stressing me so much. If this thing continues, and my memories... _No, I don't want to forget..._ I shake my head, making a painful expression. I was scared, afraid. I'm not sure how this was happening, or why, but it makes me even more scared. I don't want to forget, I just got my memories from Oronion back, I don't want to forget my part on Cybertron, I dont-!

The sound of loud beeping makes me jump. _D-Did I fall asleep?_ I let out a groan and rubbed my head, turning my attention to the beeping, seeing the computer screen and Optimus standing in front of it, with everyone else standing nearby. Fowler shows up on the screen, looking concerned, "The 'Cons really stepped in it this time. They hit a U.S military lab. Our boys will fend them off until your team shows,"

"Agent Fowler, I fear that Megatron's desperation may be at it's high, and you know that I cannot condone even a single human casualty," Optimus says in concern. Fowler then cuts off, probably to order his men to stand down. Optimus turns his attention to his team. "Arcee, Bulkhead, you're with me," he says. I immediately stand up, "I'll go, too, Optimus," I offered. Optimus gives me the look of concern, "Ariona, this may be a difficult task for you to take, due to your time of having an illness," He says. I cringe at his sentence, thinking of one word: _useless_. "Optimus, I've been out of the field long enough. I wish to fight, so that I wouldn't feel guilty of having to bear human lives being slaughtered away, just because of my absence. Please," I furrowed my optic ridges.

He remains quiet, thinking, and then nods, "Autobots, roll out!" I smiled in gratification, and followed Optimus, Arcee and Bulkhead through the activated ground bridge. As I exit the ground bridge, I quickly bare out my blades, put them together to make a canon, and blasted the first Vehicon that was in my sights. Despite feeling myself starting to slowly forget the memories I've stored, I continued to fight on, trying to get through the horde of Decepticon troopers. At this point, I didn't care about worthless memories. Past is past, this is now.

I let out a cry and slashed the Vehicons around me, trying to ignore the painful dents and cuts I've received. As much as I want to ignore them, words from characters I have encountered ran through my mind.

_"What I'd expect from my partner, Grey-'Bot,"_

_"Wow, that's so cool!"_

_"There is no reason to feel uneased,"_

_"Team Prime is really going off the book this time. Wait, don't' tell me, you're running a daycare center!"_

_"We have to! Miko's our friend, we can't just abandon her!"_

_"Please, Ariona?"_

_"I'm counting on you being in charge,"_

_'Don't worry about it,'_

_"Take care, Ariona,"_

_"What did you do to get your energy so low?"_

_"Maybe because of the design of your species is interesting..."_

_"Ariona!"_

_"You're..that Oronian...why are you here?"_

_"I have to...get back before he...gets angry again..."_

_"I brought you something, Ariona,"_

_"Yes, I'm completely harmless!"_

_"It's rare to see an Oronian now-a-days. You could be a perfect trophy,"_

_"Fighting like a Decepticon,"_

_"Have you ever though that she thought you would just slow them down?"_

I hear myself click as I slice down my last Vehicon. My optics were widen as my expression was a shocked one. My optics flicker off and on, then I shake my head, blinking. A large bang was heard and I turn my attention to the cause along with the three Autobots. Once the dust cloud lifts, someone who I hope to never see in my lifetime again appears. Megatron. My optics widen and I took a step back from the sight of him. He's just as menacing as ever. "Optimus..." Megatron's dark hissing voice sounds out in amusement.

"Megatron," Optimus says coldly, "Do you not see the folly in trying to force a prophecy fruition?" "why leave matters to fate, when one can forge one's own _destiny?_ Ah, speaking of _fate..._" Megatron's optics look over Optimus' shoulder. I quickly turn around to see Bumblebee, walking up to us with Raf in his arms, who was unconscious and limp. My lights of my optics contract, my expression in horror. "Raf!" Arcee takes the boy into his arms, leaning in her head, "He's breathing! Barely..." She frowns.

My expression was suddenly violent. "Aha..." I turn around swiftly to face Megatron, glaring at him in anger. "It would seem that I swatted a bee, and squashed a _bug_," Megatron smirks in a menacing way. Bumblebee's engines roared and he takes out his canons, beeping in anger. "Bee, no!" Bulkhead grabs Bumblebee's arms from behind and forces them down to his sides, holding him back. I narrowed at Megatron's increasing smirk. "Ratchet, bridge us back!" Optimus orders. I glanced at him, hearing something in his voice I've never had before. The ground bridge opens up behind us. "Arcee, attend to Raf. And Bumblebee," He orders. I watched as Arcee and Bumblebee left with Raf through the ground bridge.

Megatron looks up above him, and so do I, seeing the warship Nemesis landing behind him. Bulkhead then grabs me, running after Optimus towards the side of the ship. The action made me stop breathing for a bit in surprise. We grabbed onto one of the wings and started climbing up. Once the ship lifts off ground, my grip becomes tighter and I continue to climb, despite the difficulty.

:

Taking down the Vehicons guarding the piece the Decepticons needed to complete their space bridge, I dis-guard my blades and let out a breath. I watched as Bulkhead grabbed the piece, lifting it up onto his back easily. But, it looks like his strength could hold it for so long. A ground bridge opens near us. "Bulkhead, you return to base with Ariona. There is something I must do," Optimus says. "What?" I blinked. "Serious?" Bulkhead asked. "I have been foolish to not see what history has proven. Over and over again," Optimus glances at an offline Vehicon, "That Autobots and Decepticons will never mend their ways. If there can be no diplomatic solution, to this, _perpetual conflict_, then I must not allow more darkness to fall, on this, or any planet," Optimus shuts his optics, then re-opens them, "Megatron must be destroyed,"

"Optimus..." I stepped forward to him, looking at him in worry. "Come on, Ariona," Bulkhead says. I look at him, them back at Optimus. He only nods at me in response. I blinked, then frowned, wearing a expression of sorrow. _"I'm sorry..."_ I whispered, then ran through the ground bridge with Bulkhead following behind.

:

"Rafael's been infected with Dark Energon," Ratchet says, reading over his computer, but was unable to get any Energon signatures, only to discover the real cause to Raf's condition. Everyone looked at Ratchet in surprise. "Can this day get any worse...?" I asked in sobs. Bulkhead places a hand on my shoulder gently, he, too, was worried about Raf as much as everyone else. "If Dark Energon is devouring Raf from the inside out, we must expel it," Ratchet says, "And there's only one way I can think that can help. Energon," "Wait, but you said Energon was _devastating_ to humans," June said, Jack's mother, who was trying to help cure Raf.

"Under normal circumstances. But, I am relying on the dark matter in Raf's body to meet it and on," Ratchet replies. "Like fighting fire with sparks..." I said. Bumblebee volunteers to let Ratchet draw Energon from him. "I need him over here, now!" Ratchet shouts. June pushes the emergency bed into the healing chamber with the help of her son. They quickly step back out of it and the chamber closes. I lean in close, along with everyone once Ratchet activates the chamber. A soft light blue light emits from the chamber. I shut my optics tight to protect them from the light, which for some reason, felt warm to me.

The light disappears and the chamber reopens. The humans quickly ran inside and I follow behind along with Bumblebee. June grabs Raf's arm and feels his wrist with her index finger, "...Pulse rate is stabilizing," She said in happiness. I held my breath, my mouth agape as I watched Raf open his eyes, moaning. "...Bee?" Raf mutters out with a smile. Bumblebee beeps in relief and I smile widely, feeling my optics liquefy, glad that Raf was able to pull through. I then, changed my expression into a concerned one. "Ratchet, how's Optimus?" I asked. Ratchet walks over to the main computer, typing down on the keyboard. "...I'm locked onto his coordinates," Ratchet says, "Wait...how can this be possible?"

"What is it?" Arcee asked in alarm. Ratchet turns around fast. "We need to get Optimus out of there, now!" He shouts. My optics widen in fear, worrying for the worst.

_O-...Optimus...?_

_:  
><em>


	24. Chapter 24

"Bumblebee, activate the ground bridge!" Ratchet orders. Bumblebee nods and swirls around to quickly activate the bridge. I immediately take a step forward to run through, but Ratchet stops me, "You stay here," He follows Arcee after Bulkhead through the bridge. I remained in place frozen. I then stood upright and looked into the bridge in worry, anxious. I perked up once I see familiar figures step through. Arcee, Bulkhead and Ratchet returned with Optimus. "O-Optimus," I breathed out in relief. "From the looks of things, it appears that you've been exposed to numerous amounts of Energon," Ratchet states.

I blinked, my optics growing wide. "It seems that I'm not the only one..." Optimus glances at Raf while being helped to the berth. "Hey..." Raf smiles up at Optimus. "He's lucky to be alive," June says with a stern tone, looking up at Optimus. I frowned, exchanging glances with Nikki, who was now arriving back at the base with a shocked look. "Nikki..." I blinked at her. "It's total chaos around Earth..." Nikki shakes her helm.

"Megatron got a hold of more Dark Energon?" Jack asked. "A whole volcano full," Arcee replied. "The question is: How?" Bulkhead asked. "No, the question is: What. As in what in the world is the blood of Unicron doing here," Ratchet says. "The 'Cons killed a unicorn?" Miko asked in confusion. Everyone stares at her with blank expressions. "...White horse with a horn on it's head. Prances around all sparkly," Miko explains. I suddenly let out a dreamy sigh, "Unicorns..." Nikki gave me a look. "Uni**_cron_**," Ratchet corrects, "an ancient evil, whose fossilized blood comprises the matter which we call Dark Energon..as legend would have it,"

"So you're saying this "Unicron" is some kind of boogieman?" June asked. "Boogieman...?" Ratchet says in question. "Creepy made up guy who hides in your closet," Miko tries to explain again. I should really teach these guys more about Earth customs... "No, nurse Darby. Unicron is _very_ real," Ratchet says, turning to look at June, "Was...that is..well I do believe he once existed, I just don't subscribe to the theory that his..primordial life force is the substance which...harmed Raf," Ratchet looks at the human child.

"I've heard enough," June blurts out. "Miss. June?" I look at her, blinking. "Jack, help me get Raf into the car," June starts to pull the emergency bed Raf was on _'What? Why does he have to go?'_ Bumblebee beeps in confusion. "Mom, I thought you said he was getting better?" Jack says in concern. "Raf needs to be examined by real doctors. And his family needs to know what has happened. His real family," June says as she looks over her shoulder to look at her son. "Mom, Raf's family can't protect him. Not like they can," Jack motions at us. "June, it deeply grieves me that I have failed," Optimus stands up from the berth. I frowned as I gave him a look of anguish.

"But, I will do everything in my power to ensure that no harm comes to our human friends, or any human, ever again," June stops pulling Raf as she comes to a stop, looking down in thought. "...Optimus. They're _children_. They do not belong in your world. They should be worrying about grades, prom dates, pimples, not their own _survival_," I looked down at the floor, my antennas lowering as I felt shameful. "Mom, Dark Energon is pouring out of the Earth. It doesn't do that. This could be just about everyone's survival, not just ours," Jack says, speaking on his own will.

"You're coming with me, all three of you. And they will not be coming back," June says as in a final. "What?" I blinked as I stepped forward. Optimus quickly holds me back, "I understand," I looked up at him with wide optics. "_That's it?_ After all we've been through together, "See ya"! What about our freedom to choose?" Miko asks in bewilderment. "Miko..." I frowned down at her. "That may fly on their planet, but not here," June raises her voice towards Miko, "Get in," "Do you really think I would ever ride inside a non-transforming vehicle?" Miko rolls her eyes. "Miko, I'm serious," June says as her eyebrows furrowed. "You're not my mother," Miko breathes out in annoyance. "Miko," Bulkhead raises his tone.

"Neither are you," Miko snaps as she looks over her shoulder to glance at Bulkhead. "...Miko, we just want you all to be safe," I said calmly. "Oh, like how you let us run through the bridge a lot of times? Really responsible!" Miko says to me. I narrowed my optics slightly. "Well, I'm your mother," June says as she looks at her son, "Let's go Jack," I turned my attention to the boy as he and Arcee exchanged glances. "...She is your mom.." Arcee says, disappointment slightly trailing her voice. Jack looks back at June, who was waiting.

"...I'm staying," I look away slightly from Jack's answer. "I'm sorry," Jack mutters as he looks down, afraid to look at his mother. I quickly look at the white car June was walking over to, enough time to see Raf for what seemed to be for the last time before June closed his door. "Ratchet, activate the ground bridge," Optimus finally says. "No thanks," June says blunty before taking off out of the base. Bumblebee follows slightly, holding a servo out before stopping again. "Bumblebee..." I muttered under my breath with an upset expression.

"Prime, do you copy?" Fowler's voice startles me as I looked up at the main computer screen. "I hear you, Agent Fowler," Optimus replies as he walks over to the screen. "Have you been watching the news? Mother Nature's been twitching in her britches," Fowler says. My optics widen as I turned to look at Nikki, "You knew?" Nikki nods at me. "We know about the volcano," Optimus says. "And the quakes? Seven major temblors at the same magnitude at the exact same time as a volcanic eruption. All over the globe, on different tectonic plates, in theory unrelated, if they haven't happened-" Fowler says.

"-At the exact same time," Ratchet finishes Fowler's sentence. "Check it out, more good news," Miko says in a slight sarcastic way. I turned to look at the television she turned on. _"-Freak storms unlike any other region has seen. Tsunamis threaten the Canadian coast while lightning storms pummel the Gobi Desert. Meanwhile, electro-magnetic anomalies plague urban power grids. These abnormal global phenomena are leaving most to wonder: "Why now? And what next?"_

I blinked as I look back at Fowler. "Don't tell me the 'Cons built a weather machine!" Fowler says, obviously concerned about the disasters going around Earth. "One that powerful? Highly unlikely," Ratchet says. "I do not believe the appearance of Dark Energon at this point to be coincidental..." Optimus narrows his optics. "Wait, June and Raf are out there!" I said in alert. Bumblebee widens his optics at me before transforming into vehicle mode and zooming out of the base. "B-," I stop myself, not even bothering to go after him.

I sighed and walked over to my crate and sitting down. Nikki makes her way towards me. "So, Dark Energon, huh?" She asked. "Yep..." I say quietly. Nikki shakes her helm and places a servo on my shoulder, "Everyone can get through this, you know that," I slowly nod after a short pause. I blinked at the sound of an engine and looked up to see Bumblebee driving back into the base with Raf and June inside. Both of the humans exit out of Bumblebee. "Um..we're back," Raf said in an uneasy tone. "And we are glad," Ratchet replied.

Bumblebee transforms back into robot mode. Jack quickly runs to June to see if she was alright. I sighed in relief, standing up from the crate. Nikki takes a few steps back to give me some room. _"-these bizarre weather conditions as a global emergency,"_ June climbs up the stairs with her son to view the news. "Global?" June asks in surprise. _"-and scientists believe the phenomena related to the current planetary alignment,"_

"Alignment...!" I breathed out in alert. "What did you learn, Prime? And you better not blow smoke up my-" Fowler comes to an abrupt stop in his sentence as he sees June once he exits the elevator. "Miss Darby. What a nice surprise," Fowler smiles at June. "Special Agent Fowler," June greets him with a smile. "We have learned this: As with the so called magma volcano, these earthquakes originated far bellow the Earth's crust, from the very center of it's core,"

"Quakes don't start there..do they?," I looked at Fowler with a raised optic ridge. "Tremors raising and falling in a consistent pattern. Almost like-" Ratchet stops. I blinked, looking up at the screen that was showing a strange signature, "...What is it?" "...If I can convert these data points to audio files..." Ratchet starts to type down on the keyboard. "Well, what is it?" Fowler asked. "Let's find out..." Ratchet replied. I listened carefully, eventually hearing the sound of a loud heart beat. "W-...What is that?" I widen my optics. "A Cybertronian heart beat?" Jack asked. "But, that's impossible, isn't it?" I looked at Ratchet, expecting an answer from him, considering that he was the medic. "But a heart pumps blood. There's nothing inside the Earth to pump," June says. "The blood of Unicron," Raf breathes out in alert. My optics contract as I feel my spark skips a beat.

"Hold on, you're saying something's living down there?" Miko points to the floor, meaning to point towards the Earth's core. "I fear that the Earth's every core is not comprised of magma, as your science has suggested. But, of Dark Energon," Optimus narrows his optics. "And if we're hearing a spark, then Unicron is the rising darkness, that the prophecy foretold..." Ratchet says. "How do we stop this from happening?" I asked. "That I'm afraid, was not foretold," Optimus shakes his helm. "How can something be in out Earth's core, and be alive?" June asked. "Such a thing is not unprecedented," Optimus answers, "Before the beginning, there was Primus, and there was Unicron.

"One: The incarnation of creation. The other: Destruction. For eons, Primus and Unicorn battled, the balance of power shifting between them more times than could be counted. Only by creating: The Thirteen, the original Primes who proceeded me. Was finally Primus able to defeat Unicron, and cast him out. Primus became one with the very core of our planet, creating life through The Well of Allsparks. While Unicron, was never able to be heard from again.

"Until,_ now_," Optimus finishes. I clicked as I snapped back into reality. "Maybe we can find the hole this ubber 'Con left before he dugged himself all the way down there, and fill it up with explosives," Fowler offers. "Wouldn't that be a bad idea?" I asked. "Agent Fowler, I do not believe Earth became Unicron's home. But rather that with time and gravitational force, debris collected around this slumbering titan," Optimus says. "Forming your Earth, itself," I blinked at Ratchet. "And he's only awakening now, due to the magnetic pull created by the planetary alignment," Arcee says.

"What happens now, when Unicron wakes up?" Jack asked. "Yeah, does he stretch then wham, Earth poofs to dust?" Miko asked. Optimus remains silent. "...You don't know, do you..?" June asked. "My guess is that Unicron has transcended physical form as we know it," Optimus says, "Non the less, we must find a way to insure that this force of nature, never fully awakens. The fate of your planet depends on it,"

I exchange glances with Nikki before looking down at the floor. Then, a high pitch sound gradually enters my audio sensors for merely a second. I blinked and looked around to see if anyone noticed the sound. No one seemed like they did...

:

"You've been like this after that talk about Unicron. What's wrong?" Nikki asked as she stood in front of me, her arms crossed. I shake me head as I was sitting on my crate again. "...I'm just afraid.." I replied. "Why?" Nikki asked in a confused tone. "I just feel like something terrible is going to happen. Something that might change Earth for a long time," I said as I looked up at Nikki, "I'm really afraid, Nikki. Never have I had this type of fear," I frowned.

A faint cry entered my audio sensors once again, making me flinch.

_"Somebody. Help me..."_

I blinked my optics as they grow wide as they stare at the floor. Bellow my feet, was fiery flames bursting from the far reaches below the Earth's crust. Orange and violet flames licked together with rage. I continued to stare into the flaming abyss below, gaining more fear within my spark...


	25. Chapter 25

"Optimus, have you uncovered signs of Unicron's emergence?" Ratchet asked via comm-link. **_"Unicron is power, and you, the last of the Primes, shall perish!"_** My optics widen from the multiple fierce voices coming from the comm-link, "T-That's-..." "I'll take that as a yes. We're on our way!" Ratchet says. I prepare to open the ground bridge. _"Negative,"_ I flinched from Optimus' harsh voice, "Unicron cannot be defeated by sheer force. He wants me Ratchet,"

"Optimus, you can't be serious!" I shout. "This fight must be mine alone..." Optimus replied. I bit my lip and growled in annoyance. "Ariona, open the ground bridge now," Ratchet says after turning off the comm-link. I hesitated before putting in the coordinates and pulling down the lever, opening the bridge. "Ariona, any idea where Steel went, I need to speak to him," Nikki asks. "No-..Why?" I asked. "Slag," Nikki activates her skates and leaves the base. "Nikki!" I shout. "Come on, Ariona!" Bulkhead yells. I catch my breath and ran through the bridge with Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee.

Once I ran through, I activate my blades and created my cannon with them, blasting the first target I see. "Ariona, stay here," Arcee commands as she goes to help Optimus along with Bulkhead and Bumblebee. I stood still as I hear the ground bridge close. I blinked and shake my helm. I gasped once I heard rocks tumbling and turned around to have a servo snatch at my neck. I choked on my own breath and felt my feet leave the ground. My optics widen as I stared into the optics of the one I didn't wish to meet: Unicron.

**_"What's this? An Oronian?"_** His voice rings through my audio sensors. I immediately separate my blades and slice the artificial Unicron's head off. I fall to the ground and coughed for a bit. I get back up and look to my side to see another Unicron forming. Before another artificial body to attack me again, I quickly back flipped down onto the ground below and land next to Bumblebee. "Did Ratchet not relay me command? Return to base!" Optimus demands. **_"Reinforcements will not prevent your downfall, Prime,"_** I flinched at Unicron's voice.

"Optimus, you're Unicron's target, maybe you should consider returning to base," Arcee says. "These manifestations of Unicron can locate me anywhere on Earth. Even our base's shielding can cloak my position for so long," Optimus replies, "I will not put anyone else at risk," I gasped and quickly ducked to dodge the laser. "Then fall back and let us take the lead. Just this once," Bulkhead said. _"Listen to reason, Optimus,"_ Ratchet says through the comm-link, _"If you don't survive, I fear neither this planet,"_

"...Very well," I smile up at Optimus by his decision. "Let's move!" All of us start to exit from the canyon, dodging lasers as we did. Finally we managed to get out of the chaos and the Autobots transformed into their vehicle modes as I activated my skates. The mountain in front of us start to crumble, forming another figure. Breathless, I come to a stop and stared up at the colossal Unicron. Everyone transforms back into robot mode._ 'I-Is that Unicron?'_ Bumblebee beeps. "No. But another of his manifestations," Optimus answered.

"If we can't beat or outrun him, what exactly are we suppose to do?" Bulkhead asked in annoyance. "What we can do: Neutralize his vessels as they appear, until we find a way to destroy him," Optimus says, "Without destroying the Earth on which we walk..." I narrowed my optics at the titan, growing confidence. All of us run towards him, shooting. I turn my blades into a cannon again and join in. Bulkhead and Bumblebee transform and drove towards the titan to get behind him and start shooting from there. The colossal Unicron turns slightly to use his arm to swat them away like flies.

I growled slightly, growing anger. The titan turns his attention to Arcee, who was shooting at him. She immediately transforms into a motorcycle and drives away with high speed. But, that doesn't help, as she's swatted to the side as well. I skate across the ground towards the giant, shooting at his helm. Optimus joins in and shoots at Unicron. **_"Fools!"_** Unicron's voice booms. His appendage slams onto the Earth's surface and giant boulders flew toward us. I lost my breath as I felt someone push me forcefully by my side. I flew away from Optimus before crashing on the ground.

I immediately catch my breath and turned around swiftly to see him be buried by the rocks. Unicron steps forward to the trapped Prime and raises his foot to squish him like a bug, **_"I am the world's past, present, and future. And, as of this moment, all Primes have simply passed,"_**

**"Optimus!"** I screamed out. At that moment, a set of lasers not belonging to one of us shoots through the titan's helm. The manifestation falls backwards crumbles to the ground. I blinked and stood up from the ground, gasping for breath. I find Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee standing next to me. _'Who did that?'_ Bumblebee asked. "Wasn't me," Arcee replied. "Me neither," Bulkhead says. I shake my helm as a reply. "Ratchet?" Arcee activated the comm-link. _"What is it? What happened?"_ Ratchet asked through the comm-link. **"I happened,"**

All of us turned to see Megatron standing tall upon the fallen manifestation. My optics widen as my antennas lower to my helm. The Decepticon leader leaps into the air and suddenly lands right in front of us. "Megatron?" Bulkhead said, unexpected for the sudden appearance. _"King kong's there, too?"_ Miko says over the comm-link. _"He has aligned himself with Unicron,"_ Ratchet says. "Don't be so sure. Megatron just saved Optimus' _tailpipe_," I narrowed my optics from what Arcee had said. I watched Megatron as he walks over to Optimus, who was currently trying to get out of his trap. He points his cannon towards him.

As a reaction, I quickly held up my blades as the others their cannons. I clicked, seeing Megatron turn his servo and offered Optimus help. Without hesitation, I disarm my blades and let my servos fall to my sides. Optimus was helped onto his feet. "...It is either ironic, considering our last encounter.." Megatron spoke as he walks away from Optimus, glancing at him from the corner of his optic, "If memory serves, you were desperately attempting to distinguish my spark,"

"That option remains very much in play..." Optimus narrows his optics. "I wouldn't expect something less..however, I have a proposal. Join me into defeating our shared enemy: Unicron The Chaos Bringer," Megatron says. What? _"Ha! Absurd! Unicron is evil incarnate. If Megatron was to take any side, why ours?"_ Ratchet asked over the comm-link. "Because Megatron's pride would never accept anyone other than himself to be the ruler of this planet," Optimus says. "You know me all too well, Optimus," Megatron says. "You leaded armies of 'Cons. Why come to us?" Bulkhead asked.

"It's because the armies he commands wouldn't be enough. The strength of a Prime is enough to bring The Chaos Bringer down," I say with a calm tone. "Well said, Oronian," Megatron says, causing me to shrink slightly. "Then I guess we don't need you," Bulkhead says. "On the contrary, Optimus may be the only one to defeat Unicron. But, I remain the only one who could guide you to him," Megatron said, "Unicron's life blood runs through me, only I can hear his thoughts, anticipate his movements. Optimus, our past alliances, Autobot and Decepticon, no longer matter. Not while Unicron is still alive,"

_"The past always matters!"_ I flinch at Ratchet's voice from the comm-link. "A truce between Autobot and Decepticon... How long will you expect us to believe that would last?" Optimus asked, skeptical about the idea. "Only as long as it's mututally beneficial," Megatron replied. I shift my glance and look back up at Megatron, "..We should accept his proposal," Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee look at me with a shocked expression. Feeling almost everyone, even Megatron's gaze, made me feel small, but I still stood tall with confidence.

"...And when our proposed mission is complete?" Optimus asked. "I will run this planet..my way," _"Aligning with the lesser of two evils is still psyching with evil,"_ Ratchet says. "Do you think you've witnessed the full power of Unicron? Those foot soldiers were nothing more than a taste," Megatron says. "Unicron has yet to fully awaken. Each passing moment, The Chaos Bringer evolves, mutating Earth from the inside out. _What we have witnessed now was a prelude of the utter devastation his rising will reek upon your world_,"

"Oh, like how your quest for power destroyed Cybertron?" Arcee snaps. "_Make no mistake!_ This time, there will be a planet left for me to rule!" Megatron says back. "Even when we agree, Unicron's all the way down in the center of the Earth. How are we suppose to get there, drive?" Bulkhead asked. "We could always bridge ourselves down there," I offered. **_"Absolutely not!"_** I flinch from Ratchet's voice, _"Ground bridging into space and on moving trains is difficult enough. But, plotting a blind jump into a sentient being! Besides, direct exposure to that much Dark Energon will destroy you! You haven't built up the immunity like Megatron has!"_ I sighed, know how Ratchet had every right to be worried. _If I was exposed to Dark Energon long enough, I could..._

"Yet, another strong argument, for soliciting, my _guidance_," Megatron hisses. "You can provide Unicron's exact coordinates?" Optimus asked. "If you transport us to this planet's core, I can lead you directly to Unicron's spark. _The very heart of his darkness..._" Megatron replied. "Optimus, if we were to survive the jump, how are we suppose to stop Unicron?" Arcee asked. There was a long pause as he and Megatron exchange glances. I blinked, noticing the Decepticon leader nodding slightly.

"...With The Matrix of Leadership," Optimus finally answers. My antennas twitch from hearing the name as my optics widen slightly. _Matrix of Leadership? Why do I feel like I've heard it before?_ "It was the combined power of the Primes, that defeated Unicron so long ago. The very reason why he seeks the destroy you," Megatron says to Optimus. "It would follow that unleashing the power of the Matrix directly into Unicron's spark, would return him to stasis..." Optimus says. _"Hold on, if everything goes "right", Unicron's gonna stay down there?"_ Miko says through the comm-link. _"Yeah, can't we just, get him out?"_ Jack asked via comm-link. _"He's not in the Earth's core, Jack. He **is** the Earth's core,"_ Raf says. _"Rafael is correct. Tampering with your core could affect the magnetic pulls,"_ Ratchet says.

I swallowed, feeling my spark beat faster. No matter how much I regret thinking about it, an image of Earth exploding enters my mind. I wince from the thought and looked at the ground. I blinked, seeing a small pebble rolling past my feet. Then, a larger rock. I followed the rolling rocks and my optics fell on the reforming Unicron. "We got another one!" Bulkhead says in alert. I back up along with them. Boulders flew over us, picking up dust and force. A bridge suddenly opens up near us.

"Wait, we're opening a path to our base with Megatron standing right there?" Arcee asked. "And seriously, he's going to risk his own spark to save us?" Bulkhead asked. Megatron bursts out laughing, "Hardly my nature," _'Ariona, you go through first,'_ Bumblebee whispers beeps to me. I hesitate before nodding and ran through the bridge.

:

"I know desperate times call for desperate measures, but, bringing Megatron here?" Ratchet said. "How could you even _think_ of bringing that monster here?" June asked, scoffing. "He will be closely monitored, and only allowed to linger long enough to send us on our journey," Optimus replied, "Not one moment more," "What's going to stop the 'Con for calling in an air strike after he knows where you live?" Fowler asked. "By bridging Megatron here, he'll be unable to get a fix on our coordinates," Optimus says. "Optimus, what's going to happen to you after all of your Matrix energy's released?" I blinked at what Jack had said. I have never thought of that...

"The power within the Matrix has not previously been utilized in this perticular manner," Optimus answers, looking away from everyone. "You do have an idea...don't you?" Jack asked. There was a long pause, causing my chest to clench in sorrow. "...Autobots, if human kind is to be saved," He turns to face all of us, "I have no choice but to proceed..but you do," I exchanged glances with everyone, frowning slightly. "Well, I don't know about human kind. But, I will do it...for Miko," Bulkhead says as he glances at Miko with a smile. "For Jack," Arcee smiles. 'For Raf,' Bumblebee beeps.

I felt my optics liquefy and smiled sweetly at the humans.

:

As Ratchet leads the humans out of the room, I stand by Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee as we stood behind Optimus, who was facing the ground bridge. The bridge brightens as Megatron steps through the bridge calmly. I stiffen up, biting my lip. Megatron scans the base, "So, this is where the magic happens..." I blinked, hearing footsteps behind me and turned to see the humans. "You-..You-" Raf says, trying to find something to say. "Ah, you're looking better than the last time we've met, little one. Humans...resilient," Megatron says.

"C'mon, Raf, he isn't worth it," Jack says, trying to calm the boy down. June takes over and walks Raf away. Jack was about to follow behind until. "And _you_. I never forget a face, even that of a _human_," Megatron says as he looks down at Jack with his pure violet optics. Jack glances back at him before walking away, not saying a word. "You double-cross anyone, _mine_ is the face you'll never forget! **_Never!_**" Fowler grabs Miko and pulls her away as she struggles. "Ratchet, obtain the destination coordinates from our guest," Optimus finally says.

Megatron eyes Optimus as he walks around and assists Ratchet by telling the location.

:

I stand in front of the ground bridge opening along with Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Megatron. I narrowed my optics as I stared into the bridge, ready for anything. "You first," Arcee says to Megatron. "As you wish..." Megatron replied and steps through the bridge. We followed behind. I take in a deep breath as I walk through. Once I was on the other side, I was immediately hit by a wall of raw power. I gasped for breath, opening my optics in surprise. I blinked and look around me. Surrounding us, was darkness and large veins of Dark Energon.

I bit my lip, hearing hush beeps from my systems. I knew that I didn't have much time. The sound of Unicron's spark beating rings through my audio sensors. "So, uh, does Unicron know we're here?" I asked. "Make no mistake...he already does," I swallowed from Megatron's reply. All of us start to move forward, unaware of what's ahead. I looked down slightly with a frown. _Why do I feel like...this is the last time...?_


	26. Chapter 26

Megatron suddenly stops and collapses to the ground, holding his helm. I stayed in my place as I watched, emotionless. "...Unicron grows ever stronger," Megatron says after the pause. He stands up and glances at Optimus before continueing on into the dark tunnel. I placed a servo over my heart, frowning from hearing the hush beeping slowly grow louder. "How do we know if Unicron isn't using Megatron to lead us into a trap?" Arcee asked. "We do not..." Optimus says as he follows the Decepticon leader. I jumped slightly from Bumblebee placing a servo on my shoulder. I looked up at him and he nods at me. We were moving on. I exhaled and followed everyone.

:

"Unicron's spark is near," Megatron says. I stared out into the tunnel's opening, where there was another large chamber. My vision goes into static for a second before coming back online. My optics widen to see my vision suddenly change. Everywhere I look, it was violet. I close my optics and shake my helm before opening them again. Still the same vision. I bit my lip and tried to ignore it as I followed everyone across the bridge.

Bulkhead starts to groan as he held his helm. Bumblebee quickly grabs his arm in case if he doesn't lose footing, _'Hey, do you need to rest?'_ "I'm fine, Bee. Just woozy," Bulkhead replied. "The Dark Energon, it's starting to affect him," Arcee assists Bumblebee to keep Bulkhead standing up, "Steady as you go, Bulk," I narrowed my optics slightly before following Optimus again. Hearing a unknown cry, I stopped in place, remaining silent. "He's preparing to expele us..." Megatron says as he faces us. I quickly activated my forearm blades and put them together for a cannon. I followed the cries with my audio sensors and see violet creatures flying toward us, screeching.

"What are those things?" Bulkhead asked as he activates his cannons along with Arcee and Bumblebee. "If they're in Unicron's body, it stands to reason they're some sort of anti-body," Optimus replies, activating his own cannon. Once the creatures were close enough, we all start to blast at them. I growled slightly, my vision bothering me as I missed every now and then. I stumbled a bit from the loud beep coming from my gem. I glanced at it and my optics widen from seeing the color of it. I blinked, noticing Arcee falling off the bridge. _Oh no!_

She lands on the bridge bellow, unharmed. _Relief..._ At the corner of my optic, I see Bulkhead swaying and falling from the bridge. I gasped and snapped my helm to look at him as he held onto the edge of the bridge. "Bulkhead!" I rip my blades apart with force. They crack into pieces and fell to the floor as I winced in pain. Trying to ignore it, I dive towards Bulkhead and grab onto his arm before he fell into the abyss. I grind my dentals together as I tried to pull him up, slowly sliding on my knees towards the edge and feeling the armor on my arms crack. I clicked as I felt two servos grab my waist. I glance over my shoulder to see Bumblebee.

I turned to look at Bulkhead again, trying with all of my might to pull him back up. "Let me go, Ariona! I'll only take you down with me! Both of you!" Bulkhead says in alert. My optics widen, feeling them starting to liquefy. I grind my dentals together again, "No, I'm not going to let you go!" I start to pull even harder. I gasped as I felt my left arm's armor give away and split in two, revealing wires and tissue underneath. I whimpered and felt a wet substance trail down my cheek. The arm immediately deactivated and lost grip on Bulkhead's arm, causing me to slip with the right servo. I felt my spark stopping, watching as Bulkhead slipped from my grasp. Suddenly another arm appears and grabs Bulkhead's servo. I blinked and looked up, seeing Optimus. "I got you," He said as he pulls Bulkhead back onto the bridge.

Bulkhead turns to me, seeing my left arm, "Ariona..." Bumblebee helps me stand up. "It's okay, Bulk," I smiled at him sweetly. Without another moment to lose, we all start running across the bridge. "Arcee!" Optimus calls to the female below. Arcee nods and uses one of the creatures to fly up to us. _Slick..._ We ran through to the other side of the chamber and entered another tunnel as the creatures followed behind.

:

Running into an enclosed chamber, I stay close to Optimus as everyone blasts at the creatures. My broken forearm blades were still out, dripping fuel. I hear Megatron groan loudly and I turn around along with Optimus to face him. "Megatron?" Optimus asked, confused. The Decepticon leader lunged at Optimus and forces him to duck to that he could fire at the creature that was dangerously close. "Unicron's spark..lies just beyond this door," Megatron points to the circular door and runs to it. Optimus follows, "How do we get inside?"

"By fooling Unicron's defenses into believing we're not a threat," Megatron replied as the 'Con symbol on his chest glows. He faces the door and walks close to it. I turned to look at the creatures. I ignored the door opening and the sound of Megatron entering inside. "Autobots, I need you to keep our attackers at bay for as long as you can," Optimus orders before running through before the door closed. I backed up to it and watched my comrades fighting the creatures. Arcee backs up next to me along with Bulkhead and Bumblebee. "We gotta hold fast, for Optimus!" Bulkhead says.

:

I opened my optics after hearing the last of the creatures dropping to the floor. "I-...Is it over...?" I asked. _'He did it!'_ Bumblebee beeps cheerfully. The door opens behind us and we ran through without hesitating. We eventually enter inside what used to be Unicron's spark chamber. I sighed in relief, seeing Optimus still in one piece. "Optimus, are you okay?" Bulkhead asked as we stopped a couple of feet away from Optimus and Megatron. "..Why did he call me that?" Optimus asked in confusion. I clicked, my spark skipping a beat. "What did you do to him...?" Arcee bellows at Megatron.

"Who are they?" Optimus asked. A bridge opens up behind them. We didn't call for one... "Our mortal enemies! We're outnumbered, go, I'll cover you!" Megatron says, pushing Optimus towards the bridge opening slightly as he points his cannon at us. _W-What..? What's-!_

Megatron suddenly shoots at us. "Ah-!" I dive to the ground to dodge the attack. I looked up at Optimus, seeing him run to the opening. I felt my body gradually starting to tremble and trails of liquid fell from my optics down my cheeks. No..no.

"Optimus!" I screamed out towards him. He comes to a stop and slowly turns to glance at all of us, his gaze falling onto me. My face scrunches up in pain and sorrow, looking into his optics, no longer seeing the Optimus I know. He turns around and runs into the bridge with Megatron following behind. I heard a small crackle and looked down at my gem, seeing a faint crack in it...

:

For almost half an hour, I remained seating on my crate back at base, hunched over and staring at the floor. Nikki was still gone. I really wished that she was here. Everyone else had gone into a different room to leave me be. The liquid on my cheek was dried up from excessive crying. I quickly look up from a pair of skittering. I gasped, jumping from something landing on my shoulder. "Ariona!"

"S-...Steel?" I blinked. I was honestly glad to see him. "I found it!" Steel said as he jumps with joy. "What?" I asked. "I found the seed, the seed of Oronion!"

:

"In here?" I asked, walking into the cavern with Steel. "I swear!" He says cheerfully. I shake my helm and continued to walk inside the darkness. After it felt like hours, I could see a bright blue light at the corner. I clicked, starting to pick up the pace. I turned the corner and felt myself melt. Laying on the ground, was a glowing, bright sphere. My optics widen from the sight, unaware of myself slowly creeping up towards hit. I knelled down in front of it, afraid to touch it, afraid to make it impure. Blue tendrils slowly orbit around the seed. It was so beautiful. I was unaware of the footsteps behind me.

"Ariona, look ou-!" Steel's voice came to an abrupt stop after a "clang" I swiftly turn around and look up to see a dark shadow looming over me, it's red optics staring down at me. I gasped and felt something crash on my helm and I fell onto the floor, unconscious.

:

Steel let's out a groan as his optics flicker back on. He looks up to see Ariona and the seed gone. "Oh no..."

:

"Where is she!" Nikki screamed into Steel's faceplate. "Nikki, calm down," Arcee says. "Calm down! Your leader is gone, and now Ariona's gone, too! Along with the seed! How can we stay calm!" Nikki shouts. Arcee narrows her optics at her. "Steel, tell me the coordinates, I'm going to find her!"

:

Nikki exits from the bridge and it immediately closes behind her. She looks up at the cavern opening and blinks, seeing one of the Decepticons. Breakdown. He turns to glance at Nikki. She activates her crossbow and glares at him, "Where is she-?" Nikki stops and sees a figure stepping out of the cavern, holding the seed. Nikki's optics widen from the site. A familiar Oronian female with gray armor and violet life force. "N-...N-" Nikki tried to speak. The Oronian's optics fell on Nikki, emotionless. A bridge opens near the two. Breakdown runs through without saying a word.

The Oronian follows behind, holding the seed. The opening closes, leaving Nikki with a shocked expression. She falls to her knees and deactivates her crossbow. "No..." Nikki suddenly screams out, holding her helm. "W-Why?" She curls up, scared for the first time in a long time.

_"Ariona..."_


End file.
